Top Stories

Articles by The Corner

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
PedroSanchezOCDE

Spanish economy 16th December 2020

Spain Is Promoting A Safe International Mobility Plan Against Covid-19 Within The OECD

Spain, which has held the rotating presidency of the Ministerial Meeting of the OECD Council during 2020, had raised the need for the organization to work on a reference framework for safe international mobility. As part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Organization, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez has presented an initiative for the development and coordination of a harmonised system in all countries to open borders safely for economic recovery after the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mexican flag

In the World, World economy 15th December 2020

Banxico To Remain On Hold While Addressing Senate Bill Concerns

The last policy meeting by Banxico in 2020 is set to capture broad attention, as several topics alongside the monetary policy agenda will be on the table. In addition to a debated interest rate cut, Banxico will be faced with concerns over the recently approved Senate bill on excess dollars, dollar auctions from Fed swap lines, and the departure of one of the board directors.

European banks management

European economy 15th December 2020

Covid-19: The First Real-Life Stress Test For European Banks Since Post-GFC De-Risking

Scope Ratings | European banks have proven resilient in the face of Covid-19. There has been no banking crisis and no bank has come close to resolution. Supportive fiscal, monetary and supervisory policies have offset credit, funding and solvency risks. Most banks entered the crisis with healthy balance sheets. Balancing the stabilisation effect of the expected rebound against asset-quality deterioration, and factoring in business-model adjustments will underpin our rating approach to the EU banking sector next year.

Amazon is also increasing minimum wages following the general tendency in the US

Ibex, Spanish economy 15th December 2020

Acciona And Naturgy Will Supply Energy To Amazon, The World’s Largest Buyer Of Renewable Energy

Amazon has announced 26 new wind and solar energy projects totaling 3.4 GW of electricity production capacity, bringing its total investment in renewable energy in 2020 to 35 projects and over 4 GW of capacity. This makes Amazon the world’s greatest corporate buyer of renewable energy. Amongst these new contracts were two with Spanish companies: Acciona and Naturgy. Acciona’s includes the supply of 641 MW of clean energy to the US multinational, while Naturgy’s means the construction of a wind farm in Australia provided with 97 MW.

Soltec CEO

Interviews 15th December 2020

“This Year We Have Approved 35 Patents And Have 65 In The approval Process”

Mari Pinardo | Soltec has launched the first initial public offering in Spain in two years, and with unquestionable success: it was trading at 4.8 euros at the end of October and in mid-December the share price had risen to 7.62 euros. In 2019, the firm supplied 9% of the solar trackers installed worldwide, and it occupies the 3rd position in the global accumulated amount. We talked to CEO, Raul Morales.

Bulgaria

European economy 14th December 2020

Bulgaria-Recession Softened By Fiscal And Monetary Measures

Crédito y Caución (Atradius) | Bulgaria’s monetary policy framework is strong, with a solid commitment to its currency board arrangement (the lev has been pegged to the euro since 1997). As a result, the Bulgarian Central Bank usually follows monetary policy decisions made by the European Central Bank. Although Bulgaria entered the Exchange Rate Mechanism II of the EU in June 2020, an adoption of the euro seems rather unlikely in the short run. While the currency peg supports foreign investor confidence, it somehow limits Bulgaria’s ability to combat external imbalances.

Banco Santander office

Ibex, Spanish economy 14th December 2020

The Bank Of England Lifts Restrictions: Santander UK May Return To Paying A Dividend

According to the central bank, the lenders will be able to resume payments once their adequate capitalisation has been verified. The Bank of England urges prudence regarding the return of dividends and will maintain some requirements. These include not exceeding 25% of the profits of the last eight quarters, or 0.2% of their risk-weighted assets. Everything points to the ECB lifting its veto on dividends tomorrow.

housing market spain cities

Spanish economy 14th December 2020

Spain’s Housing Prices Surprised, Increasing Again In Q3, Sustained By New Housing

Bankia Estudios | Housing prices rebounded in 3Q20 (+1.1% quarter-on-quarter), after remaining practically stable in the previous quarter, so that they are 16% below the highs of 2007 and 35% above the lows of 2014.  The rebound was concentrated in new home prices: +4.7% quarter-on-quarter after the one-off fall in the previous quarter (-2.2%); while in year-on-year terms it rose to 7.5%, the highest rate since 1Q19. The prices of the new housing segment have grown by 50% accumulated from minimums and, after the growth of 3Q20, are around the previous maximums; while the prices of used properties are 25% lower.

copyright

In the World, World economy 13th December 2020

Who Owns Intellectual Property?

Peter Isackson | The entire Western economy has consistently relied on theft to establish inalienable rights of ownership over what are essentially vaporous ideas.Those who understand the true history of Apple’s emergence as the paragon of creative innovation appreciate the fact that what Jobs did was so not much theft as the appropriation of existing ideas. Dmitry Dragilev explained how it all happened while offering his redefinition of the process of innovation itself: “take something that has been discovered and improve it.”

AirBnB

In the World, World economy 12th December 2020

Airbnb Going Public Is A Maverick Move

Olga Cam and Mohammad Rajjaque via The Conversation | The travel and tourism industry is hopeful for a much faster recovery than other market segments. There are two reasons for this: first, there is a psychological demand for travel and holidays after a very long lockdown. Second, the availability of cash. The Airbnb IPO seems to be boldly positioned right at the expected beginning of the recovery in Europe and the improving market conditions encouraged last minute share issue price.