Sunday newspaper round-up: Brexit challenge, US rate hike, Sky revolt, RBS

11th Dec 2016 17:28

(ShareCast News) - Another legal spanner has been thrown into the works of the government's Brexit plans, with a High Court challenge to attempt to prevent the UK from pulling out of the European single market. The Sunday Times reported that claimants, including Peter Wilding of the British Influence thinktank, plan to seek a judicial review in an attempt to give parliament a new power of veto over the terms on which Britain leaves the EU by triggering article 127 of the European Economic Area agreement.US interest rates are expected to be hiked this week for only the second time in a decade, sparking further upheaval in global bond markets, the Sunday Times said, and sparking further falls in the pound against the dollar. The US Federal Reserve, which is to meet over Tuesday and Wednesday, is set to react to growing strength in the economy and expectations of a stimulus from president-elect Donald Trump's anticipated spending splurge.A worldwide agreement to limit the oil supply looks increasingly likely after oil producing countries from outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said they would join a Saudi Arabia-led production cut. Russia, the world's second largest oil producer, shook hands on an earlier promise to lead non-Opec supply cut efforts by removing 300,000 barrels a day of crude from the market, which it said would be matched by a cut of 300,000 barrels spread across 10 other non-Opec countries including Oman, Azerbaijan and Venezuela.As bosses of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy's oldest bank, met investment bankers in order to try and secure €2.2bn in a rights issue to avoid a taxpayer bailout, two advisers close to the dealings told the Sunday Times the efforts were futile. If MPS cannot raise the funds this weekend, it is expected to fall into state control and probably wipe out the €5.5bn of institutional- and private investor-owned junior bonds that were previously sold to keep it solvent.Paolo Gentiloni, Italy's foreign minister, will replace Matteo Renzi as prime minister after president Sergio Mattarella asked him to form a new government, bringing a quick close to a political crisis triggered by a 'no vote' in last weekend's referendum on constitutional reform. The 62-year old accepted Mattarella's offer of a mandate to try to form a new caretaker cabinet and will begin consultations with political parties to put together his team of ministers.Oil executive Rex Tillerson is likely to be nominated by Donald Trump for secretary of state, lifting the Exxon Mobil chief executive who has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin into consideration for the most senior US diplomat, the Observer reported. The president-elect met Tillerson for the second time in less than a week on Saturday morning, a campaign spokeswoman said.Sky is facing a shareholder revolt over its decision to "roll over" in the face of a new takeover approach from Rupert Murdoch's US media giant 21st Century Fox without consulting investors. The Sunday Telegraph reported that fund managers at major City institutions this weekend had sharply criticised the broadcaster's board directors over Friday's announcement that they were willing to accept £18.5bn offer for Sky, which one said was virtually no premium to the share price if taking into account the fall in sterling and the fall in the share price since Brexit.Royal Bank of Scotland should be mutualised to overhaul the culture of the bailed-out bank and bolster high street competition, according to MP Gareth Thomas. Gareth Thomas argued that turning RBS into a mutual like a building society would "conserve the strength and credibility of one of our major financial global players whilst injecting a much needed dose of competition and diversity into British banking", he wrote in the Observer.Spread-betting companies IG and CMC Markets are in line for are further regulatory attacks, with France and the Netherlands soon expected to follow the UK and Germany in eyeing clampdowns on high-risk financial products. Industry sources told the Sunday Times that restrictions likely follow from the two European countries could include advertising bans and caps on the amount of leverage customers can use to make bets.Speaking about the UK's proposals to clamp down on CFDs and binary betting, IG chief executive Peter Hetherington told the Sunday Telegraph: "We totally support the aim but the proposal as drafted will make things worse." He added that the company felt the "playing field is already significantly unlevel because some firms are more regulated than others" and that the FCA could instead focused its powers on tackling unscrupulous behaviour.Nearly six months after the EU referendum, 47% of the population are worried about leaving the EU, compared to 39% in September, according to research from consumer body Which? The Mail on Sunday noted that the shares of Britons concerned about rising food prices has climbed from 50% to 58% in the same period, while the number of people expressing fears over the exchange rate of sterling has increased from 44% to 53%.Ryanair will soon land a major blow on other older airlines by locking in a deal where it will seamlessly 'feed' passengers flying from regional airports through to long-haul flights with Norwegian Air. The Sunday Telegraph said it understood that Europe's first 'feeder' deal will be signed in the first quarter of 2017, helping to guarantee higher priced seats for the budget carrier.Euro Disney is being challenged by an activist investors of taking the mickey by allegedly paying out close to €1bn in grossly inflated charges for royalties and licences to Walt Disney, which owns the majority of the Paris-listed company. The European theme park, the Sunday Telegraph reported, has accused Walt Disney of coming over all Scrooge McDuck and siphoning off so much cash that it has prevented its Euro counterpart from making a profit, thereby abusing the rights of minority shareholders.Amazon's UK workers not only face the sack if they take four days off sick, with or without a doctor's note, but they earn less than the minimum wage if they pay for the agency transport that takes them to the online behemoth's warehouse, according to a Sunday Times investigation. The paper's undercover worker, who was working at a depot in Dunfermline, reported one case where a female worker who was hospitalised for three days due to a kidney infection but still received one point under the internet retailer's four-strikes-and-you're-out disciplinary system.Trustees of the British Steel Pension Scheme should demand more cash from Tata Steel if a deal between the firm and trade unions to save the Port Talbot steelworks goes ahead, experts say. The Mail on Sunday reported that a 60-day consultation between the firm and unions into the future of the pension scheme starts this week.The Lloyd's of London insurance market will next month unveil the results of a 'war game' simulation of a catastrophe akin to the 9/11 terror attack. Working with the Treasury and Bank of England, Lloyd's carried out the test to check it would still function effectively in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, the Sunday Times said.Iran said on Sunday it has completed a $16.8bn deal with Boeing to buy 50 737s passenger planes and 30 Boeing 777s. The state-run IRNA news agency, reported by AP in the Guardian, said the planes would be delivered over the next decade, in the biggest agreement to be struck with an American company since the 1979 revolution and US embassy takeover.Struggling Jaeger is facing another crisis after senior staff quit, the Mail on Sunday reported. Trading director Gwynn Milligan and product director Liza Canneford-Webb having both left around a year after the company was rocked by the sudden departure of former boss Colin Henry. Henry, who was only two years into his five-year turnaround strategy, left the company with no explanation.Star fund manager Neil Woodford has refused to contribute any more cash to embattled US-based Northwest Biotherapeutics, which it warned last week that it would default on its debts unless it raised new funding. The company, which has been developing a novel brain cancer treatment, has seen the value of Woodford's original $180m investment dwindle to $15m, the Sunday Times noted.