I am closing this year with a piece dedicated to a promiseful but sneaky Supersector about which I have already discussed in two previous articles (see note 1).
Let’s start with the promiseful side: in mid May, I wrote about the STOXX Supersector Europe 600 Basic Resources Index, and the possibility for this Index to continue an intermediate uptrend after the end of a retracement period that started in late February (1).
Swiss President Doris Leuthard has said a referendum would help clarify the country’s position on its relationship with the European Union.
Tensions between Switzerland and the EU have increased in recent days after the EU granted Swiss stock exchanges access to EU markets for only one year. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation (called MiFID II/MiFIR), will come into force on January 3. Swiss officials slammed the decision to allow access for only a year, calling it discriminatory, and threatened to retaliate.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently ruled in favour of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Ltd (MBFS) in a case concerning the VAT treatment of a specific type of car leasing agreement.
Britain said on Monday it would create a new national economic crime center to crack down harder on money laundering by drug dealers and people traffickers who are expected to net 90 billion pounds ($120.3 billion) this year, home secretary Amber Rudd said. Rudd announced plans for a national economic crime centre that will sit within the National Crime Agency (NCA) and will be backed by greater intelligence and analytical capabilities.
As investors are getting used to the Nordic miracle, Picking Alpha is interested in the components of it’s’ success and results which the democratization of the listing process have delivered to the investment community. Adam Kostyal, Senior Vice President, Global Listing Services (EMEA) at Nasdaq has stressed that listings are open for a company that is well prepared, has a good governance structure, and fulfills the Nasdaq Nordic listings requirements.
Digital currencies may be getting all the buzz these days, but notes and coins still reign supreme in most of Europe. Cash made up around 79 percent of everyday payments across the euro area last year, according to a European Central Bank study. Almost a quarter of consumers also kept some cash at home as a precaution, and 20 percent said they had a high-denomination note – 200 euros ($237) or 500 euros – in their possession in the year before the survey was conducted.
Brexit architect Nigel Farage has slammed George Soros over his alleged backing of the European project. Farage, speaking at the European Parliament, said the billionaire’s influence in Brussels and Strasbourg was ‘really extraordinary’.
Nigel Farage says while Russia is accused of funding Britain’s ‘Leave’ campaign, financier George Soros’ recent $18 billion donation to pro-EU charity Open Society has escaped scrutiny. “This is where the real international political collusion is,” Farage says.
Markets have largely shrugged off events in Catalonia. They are probably correct to do so.
After all, Catalonia is unlikely to become independent, at least for the foreseeable future. There does not appear to be a majority in the region in favour of independence (although that could change). Constitutionally, Spain is a unitary, indivisible state, so there is currently no legal route to independence. And international opposition to independence, at the margin, makes it more difficult.
