Headlines

Italy’s deal with the European Union to defuse its simmering budget dispute is adding to concerns about the country’s real economic problem: a lack of growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. By reining in its spending plans under pressure from financial markets and the EU’s Brussels-based executive, the European Commission, Rome has avoided EU disciplinary proceedings for now. But Italy’s antiestablishment government is also left with few policy plans for boosting growth in a stagnant economy.

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday suspended a presidential decree establishing rules for Petroleo Brasileiro SA to sell upstream assets, casting a pall over the state-controlled oil company’s ambitious divestiture program, Reuters reported. Justice Marco Aurélio Mello granted an injunction in a lawsuit brought by the leftist Workers Party to the Supreme Court, suspending a decree signed by President Michel Temer in April, the justice told Reuters.

Toys “R” Us outlets are closed in the U.S., but the brand’s stores are still a popular destination for Shanghai resident Pan Wei. A 35-year-old manager for an entertainment company, Pan does most of his shopping online but prefers physical shops when buying toys for his daughter, Bloomberg News reported. "When it comes to products for kids, we want to make sure it’s safe, so we prefer going to toy stores," he said.

U.K. regulators proposed sweeping changes to rules governing British audit firms on Tuesday in moves designed to increase competition, prevent conflicts of interest and restore public confidence in an industry tarnished by an accounting scandal that led to the collapse of one of Britain’s largest construction companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The measures, if implemented, would see audit firms separate their auditing and consulting operations, introduce two-firm audits for large companies and replace the current auditing regulator.

The Irish government has unveiled further contingency plans to cope with a potential no-deal Brexit, identifying affected sectors that would require up to 45 pieces of emergency legislation, the Irish Times reported. The plans, published yesterday would include the purchase of land at Dublin Port and Rosslare to prevent congestion from new customs, sanitary and animal health checks at the sea ports.

Five months ago, Carlos Ghosn, a multimillionaire executive credited with reviving Nissan Motors, hosted the wedding of his daughter Caroline on Naoshima, a rarefied island enclave of art and sculpture. Now, Ghosn is living in a Tokyo jail cell, unable to communicate with his daughter or any family member, as investigators explore possible financial wrongdoing related to his nearly 20-year career at Nissan, the New York Times reported.

Global equity markets gave up earlier gains and continued a weeklong sell-off on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a fresh interest rate hike and said “some” further rate hikes would be necessary in the year ahead, Reuters reported. The decision slashed more than 700 points off of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and sent MSCI’s index of global stocks down nearly 0.9 percent for the day. The index is down nearly 13 percent since the start of December due to concerns that global economic growth is slowing.

European Union lawmakers and governments yesterday reached a political agreement on new rules for the money that banks should set aside against possible losses from new loans that turn sour, Reuters reported. The compromise softens an initial proposal by the European Commission, but less than sought by the EU parliament, which accepted a stricter provisioning calendar for banks. The rules are meant to avoid a future build-up of bad loans at banks, which have hampered the EU’s economic recovery after the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Essar Steel Asia Holding, the holding company of the bankrupt Essar Steel that was controlled by the Ruias, on Monday told the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT that it was "highly unusual" for lenders to not even consider its debt settlement proposal which was higher than its rival offer, BloombergQuint reported. The Essar Steel Asia Holding had proposed to the committee of creditors, led by State Bank of India, to pay an upfront Rs 54,389 crore to retake the management of Essar Steel, but approached the National Company Law Tribunal after not receiving any reply from creditors.

Italy’s finance ministry said that it has agreed on a compromise with European Union authorities over the country’s budget deficit, resolving a dispute between Rome’s populist government and EU fiscal enforcers that has vexed financial markets for months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agreement, which wasn’t confirmed yesterday night by the EU executive, the European Commission, would allow Italy to avoid an EU disciplinary procedure for now.