The Federal Reserve lifted the range for its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.5% and 0.75%. It was the first rise in a year and only the second since June 2006, and comes as the short-term prospects improve for growth in the American economy. The Fed forecasts that it will increase rates three times over the course of next year.
It has to end some time
At its meeting on December 8th, the European Central Bank decided to extend quantitative easing for a further nine months to December 2017, but also to reduce the monthly pace of bond-buying from €80bn ($85bn) to €60bn beginning in April. Investors tried to figure out whether this marked the start of a tapering of its stimulus programme.
With the clock ticking on an end-of-year deadline, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s most-troubled bank, prepared a last-ditch attempt to raise the €5bn ($5.3bn) in new capital it needs to stay afloat. Italy’s government was on standby to intervene if the bank falls short of raising the cash on the markets.
UniCredit, the only Italian bank deemed to be a risk to global markets if it goes bust, published its turnaround plan. It includes a €13bn ($14bn) share issue to begin next year; reworking almost €18bn-worth of bad loans and selling them to two investment firms; and more job cuts. See article.
There was some good news for one European bank at least when shareholders in Bank of Cyprus approved its plan to list on the London Stock Exchange. During the euro crisis three years ago the bank was on its knees and was rescued through a contentious “bail-in”, converting savers’ deposits to equity.
As a reminder that the euro crisis is not entirely over, the euro zone’s finance ministers cancelled short-term debt relief measures for Greece, after the government boosted pensions for the poor without consultation. The second review of the current Greek bail-out is stuck; the IMF recently ran a blog post criticising the European approach.
Test flight
In the first multibillion commercial contract since 1979 between Iran and an American company, Boeing signed an agreement to deliver 80 aircraft to Iran Air for $17bn. Airbus is close to securing a similar contract. The deals have been made possible by the lifting of sanctions since a nuclear deal was signed with Iran, but Republicans in Congress, and the incoming Trump administration, are opposed to that accord and could scrap the contracts. Speaking the Trump language, Boeing plugged the benefits of its deal for “tens of thousands” of American workers.
Five years after a first takeover attempt failed amid public anger at the hacking scandal at his British newspapers, Rupert Murdoch launched another bid to buy Sky, Britain’s biggest pay-TV network. Mr Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox said it had reached an agreement to acquire the 61% of Sky it does not already own for around $14bn. But the offer is not yet formal. Making it official could trigger a referral by the government to the competition regulators, and some politicians remain opposed to Mr Murdoch’s ambitions. See article.
Vivendi said it had bought a 12% stake in Mediaset, an Italian broadcaster controlled by Silvio Berlusconi, a colourful former prime minister, and that it intended to increase its holding to 20%. The purchase was unsolicited, prompting Mediaset to describe it as a hostile takeover attempt. See article.
Yahoo discovered another breach of its security systems. A cyber-attack in 2013 accessed the passwords and other information of more than 1bn users, twice the number of a similar hack of Yahoo’s systems that took place in 2014. The revelation could affect Verizon’s planned takeover of the struggling internet company.
Asahi, Japan’s biggest beermaker, will become Europe’s third-largest brewer following its acquisition of east European assets that SABMiller is selling as part of its amalgamation with Anheuser-Busch InBev. The deal, worth €7.3bn ($7.8bn), includes the Pilsner Urquell brand produced in the Czech Republic. Earlier this year Asahi bought the Grolsch and Peroni brews from SAB.
Santa’s little helper
Amazon made its first commercial delivery of goods to a customer by drone,transporting a TV device and popcorn to a farmhouse near the English town of Cambridge. Britain was the prime choice for Amazon to mark its achievement as regulators there have imposed fewer restrictions on drone tests than in America. The drone flew two miles over open country in 13 minutes carrying a package weighing less than 2.2kg (5lb). Sceptics think drones will be a niche service, at best, and won’t work in urban areas.
