Mari Pinardo | Banco Santander reached an agreement on Tuesday to sell US private equity firm Blackstone a majority 51% stake in 30 billion euros of soured property assets and loans it inherited when it bought ailing lender Banco Popular in June.
The latest batch of economic growth numbers corroborate a picture which we started to see last year, namely that the extent of the Eurozone recovery is widening. Germany is no longer the sole growth driver. Countries like Spain are catching up.
Xavier Colás (Moscow) | Russia had a taste of democracy in the 1990s, and people’s needs increased. With the rouble’s brutal devaluation, the average Russian felt free, but at the same time associated this with huge economic decline. And now Russians prefer economic security to freedom.
There is not much in the way of major macro or corporate data due this week, but markets will be on the alert for any hints from regional Federal Reserve Chiefs’ as to what the US central bank’s next moves will be.
José Luis M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) |Supervision and a single resolution mechanism for the banks, along with a common deposit guarantee, are undoubtedly an essential part of monetary union. In the medium-term, however, greater fiscal convergence, with a more extensive mutualisation of risk in the region, are just as important.
Peng Qinqing and Han Wei via Caixin|In a rare move, China’s foreign exchange regulator named nine banks for violations of foreign exchange regulations amid continued efforts to clamp down capital outflows.
Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel| French president Emmanuel Macron barely talks about an issue that preoccupies two-thirds of French voters. Immigration could be his Achilles heel.
ATL Capital |For most people, the summer is a time for relaxing and taking a well-earned break from work. But it can also bring instability and suprises in the stock markets. While August has been a negative month for investments for the last eight years, it’s September which is traditionally the worst summertime month.
José Luis M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) |The ECB believes the net effect of a policy of zero interest rates (negative in the case of the deposit rate) has been positive for the revenues of the different economic players. But the impact has not been equal.
Carax Alphavalue |After earning the unhappy reputation of being the protagonist in Spain’s biggest ever bankruptcy case, engineering and renewable energy company Abengoa could be worth taking another look as a summer investment bet – albeit a high risk one.