Headlines

Earlier this month, following the collapse of merger talks with Commerzbank in April, Deutsche Bank’s share price hit the lowest point of its 149-year history. Fitch, a credit-rating agency, cut the bank’s rating to two notches above junk. In May Christian Sewing, its chief executive, promised “tough cutbacks” in the ailing investment-banking business, with plans to be laid out alongside half-year results on July 24th. But on June 16th a leak in the Financial Times revealed the outlines. The cuts (which Deutsche has not confirmed) go well beyond its investment-banking arm.

Pressures are clearly building for a once-in-a-decade blitz in the stock market by the end of next year. Though the market has experienced some choppiness lately, last year’s turmoil is generally viewed more as a fleeting nightmare than as a cautionary tale, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Nonetheless, investors should pay heed as the sell-off exposed some alarming fragilities. In essence, the market has flashed a sneak preview of its true crash potential.

A statue of a golden bull, poised to charge, stands outside the headquarters of Xiangtan Jiuhua, a government-owned company that funds much of Xiangtan’s infrastructure investment. It has seen better days: the gold paint is flaking and the torso is cracked. That makes it a fitting symbol for public finances in the sprawling prefecture of 3m people in central China, and scores of similar cities across the country, where the ambitions of local officials have collided with heavy debt loads, The Economist reported.

A multi-million euro aid package has been agreed to support Irish beef farmers who have been hit by market uncertainty because of Brexit . EU member states on Thursday voted in favour of a proposal from the European Commission to make €50 million available to farmers, which can be matched by national funds to take the total to €100 million. The move comes as State authorities estimate that farmers have lost over €100 million over the last 12 months due to a drop in prices, with margins in the beef and veal sector having fallen by between 11 to 19 per cent.

Over €39.82 million remains unpaid to the Revenue Commissioners in taxes, penalties and interest from tax defaulters who were named last year and in 2017, the Irish Times reported. Figures provided by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe show that €15.5 million remains unpaid by published tax defaulters in tax, penalties and interest from 2018. In a written Dáil reply to Joan Burton TD, Mr Donohoe confirmed that a further €24.2 million remains unpaid in taxes, penalties and interest from the 2017 lists of published tax defaulters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed international sanctions and falling energy prices for declining incomes that have led to a drop in living standards for average Russians and caused mounting social discontent. The demise in quality of life has contributed to a battering in Mr. Putin’s domestic approval ratings and the negative sentiment threatens to overshadow his almost two decades in power. In his annual “Direct Line,” a carefully choreographed event where citizens submit questions via phone, video calls and the internet, Mr.

Paragon Entertainment said on Thursday it did not have enough cash to run its operations or pay its dues and the company has decided to appoint administrators as soon as possible, while its top boss resigned, Reuters reported. The company, which has designed visitor attractions and experiences such as The Rolling Stones Exhibitionism at the Saatchi Gallery, said Chief Executive Damien Latham has resigned with immediate effect.

What good is it to throw a man ten feet of rope if he is drowning in 20 feet of water?” asked Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist of the IMF, in this newspaper 15 years ago. His question still bothers the institution he used to advise. Last June the fund uncoiled its biggest-ever loan: $50bn for Argentina. Four months later it added $6bn more. It hoped its generosity would rescue Argentina and salvage its reputation in a country that regards it as complicit in the economic disasters of 2001-02. But a year later, Argentina’s economy is still far from safety. Will more rope be needed?

Morningstar has suspended its rating on a fund run by H2O Asset Management because of its holdings of illiquid bonds, after a Financial Times investigation into the substantial holdings related to a controversial German financier, the Financial Times reported. The agency, whose assessments are used as a key guide for investors, suspended its bronze rating on H2O’s Allegro Fund, citing concerns over “the liquidity of certain bonds”.

Iceland is preparing for a deeper recession this year amid dropping tourism arrivals and a failed capelin season, central bank Governor Mar Gudmundsson said, Bloomberg News reported. “We are prepared for the possibility of a deeper recession, and the numbers we are getting on tourist arrivals seem to indicate that that may happen,” Gudmundsson said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia.