Fatal clash on West Bank could threaten peace talks, Palestinians say

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Fatal clash on West Bank could threaten peace talks, Palestinians say

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BATS in merger talks with Direct Edge: WSJ

n">(Reuters) - BATS Global Markets, the third-largest U.S. stock exchange, is in advanced talks to merge with smaller rival Direct Edge Holdings LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The report said the deal, which could be announced within days, would create the second-biggest U.S. stock market operator behind the NYSE Euronext in terms of shares traded. (r.reuters.com/xud62v)

News about the potential deal comes a day after a technical glitch crippled the Nasdaq stock market to a three-hour halt, the latest prominent disruption to the operations of U.S. markets.

The deal would unite two exchanges built by trading firms and banks to challenge the dominance of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market using technology geared toward rapid trading, the Journal said.

Direct Edge, the No. 4 U.S. stock exchange, was looking for buyers last year and had been in talks with TMX Group Inc, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The BATS-Direct Edge combination, which would be subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, would create an exchange operator with about 20.6 percent of the overall market, according to market data from BATS cited in the Journal report.

A BATS spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumors. There was no immediate response from Direct Edge on the report.

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Bangalore, Rodrigo Campos and Herbert Lash in New York; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Maju Samuel)

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BATS in merger talks with Direct Edge: WSJ

n">(Reuters) - BATS Global Markets, the third-largest U.S. stock exchange, is in advanced talks to merge with smaller rival Direct Edge Holdings LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The report said the deal, which could be announced within days, would create the second-biggest U.S. stock market operator behind the NYSE Euronext in terms of shares traded. (r.reuters.com/xud62v)

News about the potential deal comes a day after a technical glitch crippled the Nasdaq stock market to a three-hour halt, the latest prominent disruption to the operations of U.S. markets.

The deal would unite two exchanges built by trading firms and banks to challenge the dominance of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market using technology geared toward rapid trading, the Journal said.

Direct Edge, the No. 4 U.S. stock exchange, was looking for buyers last year and had been in talks with TMX Group Inc, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The BATS-Direct Edge combination, which would be subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, would create an exchange operator with about 20.6 percent of the overall market, according to market data from BATS cited in the Journal report.

A BATS spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumors. There was no immediate response from Direct Edge on the report.

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Bangalore, Rodrigo Campos and Herbert Lash in New York; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Maju Samuel)

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Alitalia in talks with Etihad on commercial deal - report

MILAN | Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:41pm BST

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian airline Alitalia is in talks with Etihad Airways on a commercial deal that may even lead to the Abu Dhabi-based carrier taking a stake in the money-losing Italian company, daily il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.

Neither Alitalia nor Etihad could immediately be reached for comment.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper said there had been several meetings in recent weeks between managers at both companies, including recently appointed Alitalia Chief Executive Gabriele del Torchio.

Del Torchio, who is known as a turnaround specialist, was recruited earlier this year to lead the struggling Italian airline back to profitability.

Alitalia, which is 25 percent owned by Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), was rescued from bankruptcy in 2008, when it was bought by a consortium of Italian companies including bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), road operator Atlantia (ATL.MI) and holding company IMMSI (IMSI.MI).

In its industrial plan presented in July, the new CEO said the company planned to increase its financial resources by 300 million euros ($400 million) by the end of this year.

Alitalia and Etihad were mentioned in the context of a possible tie-up earlier this year, but Etihad said at the time there were no talks between the two firms beyond those on code sharing.

($1 = 0.7461 euros)

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak in Milan and Praveen Menon in Dubai; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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BATS in merger talks with Direct Edge: WSJ

n">(Reuters) - BATS Global Markets, the third-largest U.S. stock exchange, is in advanced talks to merge with smaller rival Direct Edge Holdings LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The report said the deal, which could be announced within days, would create the second-biggest U.S. stock market operator behind the NYSE Euronext in terms of shares traded. (r.reuters.com/xud62v)

News about the potential deal comes a day after a technical glitch crippled the Nasdaq stock market to a three-hour halt, the latest prominent disruption to the operations of U.S. markets.

The deal would unite two exchanges built by trading firms and banks to challenge the dominance of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market using technology geared toward rapid trading, the Journal said.

Direct Edge, the No. 4 U.S. stock exchange, was looking for buyers last year and had been in talks with TMX Group Inc, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The BATS-Direct Edge combination, which would be subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, would create an exchange operator with about 20.6 percent of the overall market, according to market data from BATS cited in the Journal report.

A BATS spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumors. There was no immediate response from Direct Edge on the report.

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Bangalore, Rodrigo Campos and Herbert Lash in New York; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Maju Samuel)

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Alitalia in talks with Etihad on commercial deal - report

MILAN | Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:41pm BST

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian airline Alitalia is in talks with Etihad Airways on a commercial deal that may even lead to the Abu Dhabi-based carrier taking a stake in the money-losing Italian company, daily il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.

Neither Alitalia nor Etihad could immediately be reached for comment.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper said there had been several meetings in recent weeks between managers at both companies, including recently appointed Alitalia Chief Executive Gabriele del Torchio.

Del Torchio, who is known as a turnaround specialist, was recruited earlier this year to lead the struggling Italian airline back to profitability.

Alitalia, which is 25 percent owned by Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), was rescued from bankruptcy in 2008, when it was bought by a consortium of Italian companies including bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), road operator Atlantia (ATL.MI) and holding company IMMSI (IMSI.MI).

In its industrial plan presented in July, the new CEO said the company planned to increase its financial resources by 300 million euros ($400 million) by the end of this year.

Alitalia and Etihad were mentioned in the context of a possible tie-up earlier this year, but Etihad said at the time there were no talks between the two firms beyond those on code sharing.

($1 = 0.7461 euros)

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak in Milan and Praveen Menon in Dubai; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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U.S. looks to turn the screw in Swiss banks talks

The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen at his headquarters at the Paradeplatz square in Zurich July 25, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

By Martin de Sa'Pinto, Katharina Bart and Patrick Temple-West

ZURICH/WASHINGTON | Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:58am EDT

ZURICH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is pushing Switzerland for a deal to settle a long-running dispute over banks that shelter tax evaders, a Swiss government source said on Thursday, ratcheting up the pressure after parliament rejected an accord in June.

With many Swiss banks under U.S. investigation for helping American clients dodge taxes, the government is anxious to secure an agreement that satisfies U.S. demands for data to help catch the tax cheats but also wants to preserve at least some elements of its cherished tradition of banking secrecy, which has long been a key part of the Alpine nation's allure for depositors.

Two months ago the Swiss parliament voted down a law that would have eased the transfer of client data for the entire industry, angering the United States and raising fears in Switzerland of further indictments.

The United States has since tightened its negotiating terms, the Swiss government source said. He declined to give details except to say that the stiffer terms did not include higher fines for culpable banks.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington declined to comment.

Roughly a dozen banks are under U.S. investigation, including Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, the Swiss arm of Britain's HSBC, privately held Pictet and state-backed regional banks Zuercher Kantonalbank and Basler Kantonalbank.

The Swiss government has said it will grant these banks permission to hand over data to the U.S. that will allow them to avoid charges as they cut individual deals.

But as the two governments wrangle over the terms of an over-arching accord, Swiss banks not yet under investigation find themselves in a legal limbo, prolonging a scandal that has already cost the sector billions of francs in withdrawals.

Swiss banks are keen to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors to avoid an indictment of the kind that felled Switzerland's oldest private bank, Wegelin, earlier this year, but they are unsure what information they can hand over.

"What's unfolding is almost like a game of chess," said one U.S.-based lawyer with knowledge of the discussions.

"The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has a lot of active investigations going, and ... they have plenty of time. Conversely, the Swiss don't want one-by-one investigations over the next several years; everyone is sick of it."

DOJ ON STEROIDS

The U.S. Justice Department has valuable tools to squeeze Swiss banks into complying with settlements, said Jeffrey Neiman, a former federal prosecutor involved in other Swiss bank investigations who is now in private law practice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He cited three such tools: a database of voluntary disclosures from U.S. taxpayers; a relationship with Liechtenstein to obtain information; and a lucrative whistleblower program to entice Swiss bankers, he said.

"You're dealing with a Justice Department on steroids compared to what it was like in 2008 and 2009," Neiman said. "They have so much information."

Even so, while U.S. prosecutors have greater powers to root out U.S. citizens with untaxed money in Swiss accounts, the lack of a defined framework is limiting the banks' cooperation.

Until the United States and Switzerland agree a framework and restitution to settle the dispute, the scandal will continue to weigh on the industry, which is bracing for up to 200 billion francs in withdrawals in the four years to 2016, out of 789 billion francs of untaxed assets in Swiss banks, according to consultancy Zeb/Rolfes Schierenbeck Associates.

UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, has said it could see client money outflows of 12 billion Swiss francs ($13 billion) in Europe as a result of a crackdown on tax evasion there, while rival Credit Suisse said clients in western Europe could withdraw up to $37 billion in the next few years.

The sector is unsure how much an eventual settlement with the United States will cost them, but total fines are likely to run into billions of dollars.

UBS paid a fine of $780 million in 2009 and delivered the names of more than 4,000 clients to avoid indictment, giving the U.S. authorities information that allowed them to pursue other Swiss banks.

A source at one of the banks targeted said talks between the banks under investigation and the DoJ are at a standstill because the DoJ cannot conclude an agreement without a legal framework for the entire Swiss banking industry.

In the meantime, up to 100 others of Switzerland's 300 or so banks are suspected of having tax evaders among their clients. They have no clear guidance on what data they will need to send.

"It's a complex task to go through thousands of emails that might or might not be relevant. Now it's not the 11 or 13 banks that are on the list that have a problem, it's the other 90 or so who don't really know what to do," said another Swiss banking source who asked not to be named.

($1 = 0.9205 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by Albert Schmieder and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Will Waterman)

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Detroit bankruptcy judge orders mediator to handle union talks

'Detroit' is seen on the top of an iron man-hole cover on a street in Detroit, Michigan July 27, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/ Rebecca Cook

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Goldman, Morgan Stanley in talks to buy stake in China's Huarong: FT

A visitor walks past the bank's logo prior to Deutsche Bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt February 2, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

HONG KONG | Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:28am EDT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley have held talks with China's Huarong Asset Management Corp to invest in its $1.5 billion stake sale ahead of the company's expected initial public offering next year, the Financial Times reported.

The interest of foreign banks in Huarong comes amid looming concerns of a surge in bad loans across China. A spike in non-performing loans would increase the demand for the services of China's asset management companies.

Huarong, established in 1999, is the biggest of the four funds that China's government set up to remove an estimated 1.4 trillion yuan ($230 billion) worth of bad loans from the country's top four state lenders.

Setting up these asset management companies allowed China's top four banks to shed their bad loans book and to list shares publicly, beginning roughly eight years ago.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) declined to comment. Huarong could not be reached immediately.

Huarong plans to raise up to $2 billion by selling a stake of 15-20 percent, Reuters reported in June. The fund raising would set the table for an IPO, in a move similar to what Cinda Asset Management Corp, another bad loan vehicle created by China, is doing.

The FT, citing people close to the Huarong process, said in its report on Friday that the company would pursue a Hong Kong listing.

Huarong manages over 300 billion yuan of assets, and its net profit jumped 66 percent in 2012 to 6.96 billion yuan, according to its annual report.

Cinda raised $1.6 billion last year from investors including China's National Social Security Fund, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and UBS (UBSN.VX). It has also started working on its IPO process.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Himani Sarkar)

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Detroit bankruptcy judge orders mediator to handle union talks

'Detroit' is seen on the top of an iron man-hole cover on a street in Detroit, Michigan July 27, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/ Rebecca Cook

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Goldman, Morgan Stanley in talks to buy stake in China's Huarong: FT

A visitor walks past the bank's logo prior to Deutsche Bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt February 2, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

HONG KONG | Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:28am EDT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley have held talks with China's Huarong Asset Management Corp to invest in its $1.5 billion stake sale ahead of the company's expected initial public offering next year, the Financial Times reported.

The interest of foreign banks in Huarong comes amid looming concerns of a surge in bad loans across China. A spike in non-performing loans would increase the demand for the services of China's asset management companies.

Huarong, established in 1999, is the biggest of the four funds that China's government set up to remove an estimated 1.4 trillion yuan ($230 billion) worth of bad loans from the country's top four state lenders.

Setting up these asset management companies allowed China's top four banks to shed their bad loans book and to list shares publicly, beginning roughly eight years ago.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) declined to comment. Huarong could not be reached immediately.

Huarong plans to raise up to $2 billion by selling a stake of 15-20 percent, Reuters reported in June. The fund raising would set the table for an IPO, in a move similar to what Cinda Asset Management Corp, another bad loan vehicle created by China, is doing.

The FT, citing people close to the Huarong process, said in its report on Friday that the company would pursue a Hong Kong listing.

Huarong manages over 300 billion yuan of assets, and its net profit jumped 66 percent in 2012 to 6.96 billion yuan, according to its annual report.

Cinda raised $1.6 billion last year from investors including China's National Social Security Fund, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and UBS (UBSN.VX). It has also started working on its IPO process.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Himani Sarkar)

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Reports: Ad giants Omnicom, Publicis in talks

NEW YORK (AP) — Omnicom and Publicis are close to striking a deal that would combine the two advertising giants into the world's largest advertising firm, according to media reports.

Such a merger would create a firm with a market value of more than $30 billion, surpassing London-based industry leader WPP PLC. A combined firm would allow for more pricing power, though the decrease in competition could present regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and Europe. Client conflicts also could be an issue.

Omnicom Group Inc., based in New York, owns BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide Communications Group and TBWA Worldwide, among other agencies. Paris-based Publicis Groupe SA runs its namesake agency as well as Leo Burnett Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and DigitasLBi.

An announcement is expected Sunday at Publicis' headquarters.

Spokespeople for Omnicom and Publicis couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. Bloomberg News first reported the talks aftermarket on Friday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the deal.

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France wants mandate for EU-US trade talks published

PARIS (Reuters) - France called on Monday for the European Commission to make public its mandate to negotiate EU-U.S. free-trade talks, citing what it said was an atmosphere of mistrust over efforts to forge a landmark pact.

The U.S. and EU launched the negotiations earlier this month despite European concerns about U.S. spying that had threatened to delay the start after nearly two years of preparation. France moreover only agreed to the talks after securing assurances that its entertainment industry would be ringfenced.

"The first week of discussions on a transatlantic partnership agreement closed in a climate of doubt," Trade Minister Nicole Bricq wrote in French newspaper Liberation.

"The U.S. once again showed its splendid ambivalence. It is a country where everything seems possible and whose dynamism and energy we French envy. At the same time it is a prickly power incapable of resisting the temptations its supremacy gives it."

Stressing the need for transparency in the talks, Bricq said she had asked EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht to break with usual procedure and make the EU's negotiation mandate public.

"It doesn't contain any secrets. It's a political statement that calls for an agreement that respects our values and interests. It deserves to be debated," she said.

The Commission's mandates to negotiate international trade deals are not made public because it could weaken the EU's hand by revealing its limits to Washington and U.S. lobbies. That said, unofficial leaks of the mandate are common.

"If the talks with United States are for a partnership, and if we are working as equals, then our practices need to change so that we speak the same language," she said.

Bricq also said the Commission should regularly inform the European Parliament of the progress of the talks. At present, the Commission must do so at the end of each round.

The first round of talks, which took place in Washington from July 8 to July 12, mainly set the stage for more substantive negotiations in the weeks and months ahead as the two sides strive to reach a deal by late 2014.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Mark John)

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Reports: Ad giants Omnicom, Publicis in talks

NEW YORK (AP) — Omnicom and Publicis are close to striking a deal that would combine the two advertising giants into the world's largest advertising firm, according to media reports.

Such a merger would create a firm with a market value of more than $30 billion, surpassing London-based industry leader WPP PLC. A combined firm would allow for more pricing power, though the decrease in competition could present regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and Europe. Client conflicts also could be an issue.

Omnicom Group Inc., based in New York, owns BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide Communications Group and TBWA Worldwide, among other agencies. Paris-based Publicis Groupe SA runs its namesake agency as well as Leo Burnett Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and DigitasLBi.

An announcement is expected Sunday at Publicis' headquarters.

Spokespeople for Omnicom and Publicis couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. Bloomberg News first reported the talks aftermarket on Friday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the deal.

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