Governatives

The cabinet has endorsed plans to impose a gender quota for boards and managements of listed Swiss companies as part of a wide-ranging legal amendment to be discussed by parliament.
The bill includes a minimum 30% quota for women on company boards and at least 20% for members of company managements. Over the issue Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said “The cabinet agreed that rules are necessary.”

The discussions is coming up after last week, during UN committee in Geneva; the panel of experts said it welcomed Swiss progress since the last report in 2009. Overall, Switzerland needed to develop a ‘comprehensive national gender strategy’, it said.

Saudi Arabia has raised more than $17 billion in its first foray into the global bond markets, according to news reports, as the kingdom struggles to close a budget deficit caused by declining oil prices.
The issue eclipsed the previous record for an emerging market sovereign bond sale, a $16.5 billion issue by Argentina in April, Reuters reported. The bonds are due to be repaid in 5, 10 and 30 years and are expected to trade at a 160-235 basis point premium to US Treasuries. The notes are expected to be rated A1 by Moody’s and AA- by Fitch.

Portugal will introduce a tax on real estate fortunes above € 600,000 ($661,000) in 2017 to help pay for pensions, the government has said. The measure was introduced by Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s in draft budget for 2017.

He explained the property tax income would be used to sustain Portugal’s social payments – everything from pensions to the health service to family benefits.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not join the Greek bailout program but will accept a special role as advisory status with limited powers, according to Reuters’ sources. “A special advisory status with limited powers that keeps IMF at the table”, looks like the most possible scenario, Reuters reporting two senior sources.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on the country’s parliament to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, signed in February, before other states. And Abe stressed the Parliament should approve the TPP treaty before the current session ends on Nov. 30.

"We could provide an impetus for the entry of this agreement into force by approving it in parliament faster than other countries," Abe said. He added Japan will help provide momentum to the TPP and help make it a reality by approving it in the Diet (Japanese parliament) ahead of other countries, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Theresa May outlined a vision for Britain after Brexit in the speech to Tory conference during its annual convention yesterday. British Prime Minister said the vote for Brexit was a rejection, not just of the European Union, but of an entire social and economic order. “It was about a sense – deep, profound and let’s face it often justified – that many people have today that the world works well for a privileged few, but not for them.

Italy launched its first 50-year Bond on Tuesday. Like Spain, France and Belgium, in a statement, the Italian Finance Ministry said the bond would mature on March 1, 2067 and would be issued “in the near future”, as widely announced in recent weeks. The sale was arranged by Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC France, JP Morgan Securities and Unicredit.
Italy joined other euro zone countries that have locked in historically low rates by selling ultra-long debt this year.

Greek government is facing public discontent as it prepares to approve a new austerity measures and to proceed with a controversial new round of privatisations to secure more cash from its creditors.
Tsipras government presented on Monday its 2017 draft budget to parliament, projecting an economic growth of 2.7% after eight years of recession from a 0.3 percent contraction this year.