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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.
JASabadellok

I.R. Spain, Spanish economy 24th November 2020

The So-Called Loyalty Shares: An Unnecessary Mistake (Albeit An Avoidable One)

José Carlos González Vázquez (Professor in Commercial Law (UCM). Partner at MA Law Firm) | On September 7, the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament published the bill which will modify the consolidated text of the Capital Companies Act. This bill is basically a transposition of Directive (EU) 2017/828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 amending Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement. However, some other proposals, not present in the European Directive, have been introduced. Among the most controversial ones is this dealing with the so-called loyalty shares: shareholders of listed companies are given double voting rights if they hold on to their shares for an uninterrupted period of two consecutive years. This means breaking away from the sacrosanct principle enshrined in our Company Law of “one share, one vote” .

gbpusdok 1

European politics 23rd November 2020

BREXIT After US Elections And Promising Covid-19 Vaccines

The -2.5% underperformance of UK real GDP growth relative to OECD countries over the last 4 years (to 31/12/2019) clearly signals the damaging impact Brexit has had on business confidence. Brexit uncertainty has led to slower investment, with firms instead building up cash buffers from ~16% up to ~19% of GDP. The opportunity cost of this saving is the slower rate of GDP growth experienced.

spain ecommerce

Spanish economy 23rd November 2020

The Growth Of E-Commerce In Spain During The Pandemic: Myth Or Reality?

Javier Ibáñez de Aldecoa and Eduard Llorens (CaixaBank Research ) | How have e-consumption habits evolved after the COVID-19 outbreak? We address this question using big data techniques and anonymised data from card payments carried out by CaixaBank’s 13.5 million customers. Our results confirm that the pandemic generated a significant, albeit short-lived, increase in the use of e-commerce. At the end of September e-commerce no longer showed any deviation from its growth trend of previous years.

 

 

BBVA Sabadell 1

Ibex, Markets, Spanish economy 22nd November 2020

BBVA And Sabadell: High Probability Of Agreement; Shareholders To Obtain A Value Generation Near 30%

Santander Corporate & Investment | A possible acquisition of 100% in cash of Banc Sabadell by BBVA would generate significant value for the shareholders of both banks. BBVA and Banco Sabadell confirmed this week that they are holding conversations about a possible merger of both entities. The resulting entity would have a market share of 24% in Spain in loans to customers and c.23% in customer deposits against 30% and 28%, respectively, in the case of the combination of Caixabank and Bankia.

THE INFLATONARY SUPPLY OF UNBACKED US DOLLARS AND THE PRICE OF GOLD

In the World, World economy 21st November 2020

Why Does The US Benefit From A Dollar That Isn’t Tied To The Value Of A Glittery Hunk Of Metal?

Michael Klein via The Conversation | Going back to a gold standard would create new problems. For example, the price of gold moves around a lot. A year ago an ounce of gold cost $1,457. The pandemic helped drive up the price by 40% to $2,049 in August. As of Nov. 18, it was about $1,885. Clearly, it would be destabilizing if the dollar were pegged to gold when its prices swings wildly. Exchange rates between major currencies are typically much more stable. 

UK

European economy 20th November 2020

UK-Spend, spend, spend

In the UK, the fiscal party continues. The government announced £12bn of funding for green initiatives this week and £16.5bn in additional defence spending. The government also published its latest public sector finances. For the fiscal year so far, the net borrowing requirement is £215bn, a staggering £169bn more than in the same period last year. The level of net public sector debt exceeded $2trn last month and stands at 100.8% of GDP, a level not seen since the 1960s.

Endesa GNL

Spanish economy 20th November 2020

Endesa Will Invest More Than €30 M In The Largest LNG Supply Center For Gas-Powered Ships In Spain

Endesa has launched a project for the development of bunkering activities for maritime transport in its port terminal of the Bay of Algeciras (Cadiz). This will have a storage capacity of around 4,080 cubic meters and an annual managed energy volume of 1,100 GWh. With this capacity, the terminal would become the main LNG bunkering port station in Spain. The country multiplied by more than three its LNG bunkering operations in 2019, with a total of 195 that supplied a total of 81,704 cubic meters of LNG.

EU recovery fund

Spanish economy 20th November 2020

Spain Receives A Second Tranche Of €4 Bn From The European Fund To Pay Furloughs And Self-Employed

With this second payment, Spain has already received 10 billion euros via the SURE instrument out of the total €21.3 Bn Pedro Sánchez’s government requested and was later approved by the European institutions. The Community Executive has disbursed in this second round a total of €14 Bn to nine European countries. In addition to Spain, Italy (6.5 Bn), Greece (2 Bn), Croatia (510 M), Lithuania (300 M), Cyprus (250 M), Slovenia (200 M) and Malta and Latvia (120 M each) have received tranches from this fund.

Greece is meeting fiscal targets and concludes program reviews on time

European economy 19th November 2020

A Rebound Is Expected For The Greek Economy, But Downside Risks Remain

Assuming the pandemic comes to a gradual end, a robust recovery of investments, private consumption and exports output should lead to an economic rebound of almost 7.5% in 2021. Unemployment is expected to decrease again next year. However, besides a resurge of the pandemic, any deterioration of the Greek-Turkish relationship could hurt economic performance, especially within the tourism sector (e.g. if Turkey again opens the border for refugees to move on to Greece, or in case of rising military tensions and clashes in the Aegean Sea).