Sunday newspaper round-up: Autumn statement, Glencore, BoE

6th Nov 2022 23:20

(Sharecast News) - The key points of the autumn statement must be submitted to the Office for Budget Responsibility by Monday morning. The Guardian understands that the Chancellor will set out tax increases and spending reductions totalling £60bn with cuts of at least £35bn. Decisions were also expected within days on whether to raise benefits in line with inflation and as regards changes to the pensions triple lock. Among the Chancellor's concerns is ensuring that the Treasury has enough 'headroom' to deal with other economic shocks and that its plans are credible to financial markets. - Guardian

Mubdala Investment Company has joined the likes of HSBC and Standard Life in a lawsuit against Glencore. The decision follows a London court ruling during the previous week ordering the mining group to pay £281m after finding that subsidiary Glencore Energy UK had paid millions of dollars-worth in bribes to officials from five African countries. That may be just the tip of the iceberg. Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday show that a wave of legal claims, that experts think might reach into the billions of pounds, may be set to hit Glencore. - The Financial Mail on Sunday

The Bank of England is flirting with another bond market crisis, City traders warn, amid fresh signs of strain that might force another intervention. In particular, traders have pointed to signs of duress in the "repo" market and in short-dated UK debt. Pointing to signs of pressure in Bank's first bond sales last week as part of its quantitative tightening, they said that there was a potential shortage of short-dated gilts. - Sunday Telegraph

HSBC senior brass offered a strong rebuttal of criticism from shareholder Ping An at a meeting with City analysts on Friday. According to the lender's outgoing finance chief, Ewen Stevenson, Ping An's demand earlier in the week for HSBC to be "much more aggressive" in cutting costs was no longer relevant, because they had remained flat since he joined in 2018. One analyst on Friday's call agreed but said that investors would need convincing that cost discipline would be maintained in 2024 and beyond. - The Sunday Times