Thomas Cook’s biggest shareholder, Fosun Tourism Group, has held talks about buying the embattled tour operating business, which, if successful, would result in the company passing into Chinese ownership, reported The Sunday Times.
On Monday, Andrew Bailey, head of UK financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), admitted fund rules may need to change after the Neil Woodford meltdown, reported the Financial Times.
Deutsche Welle reported that Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the increasing use of big data and artificial intelligence by technology giants was causing disruption to the global financial system.
On Tuesday, the US antitrust chief said that a study of enforcement actions from decades ago could lay the groundwork for looking at possible anti-competitive behavior of tech behemoths such as Alphabet’s Google and Facebook, reported Reuters.
Mid-week saw the FTSE 100 fall into the red and end a seven-day winning streak as trade war fears resurfaced and the oil price dropped, reported Citywire.
New Scientist reported that MPs in Norway gave the green light to a decision to divest the country’s $1 tn sovereign wealth fund from oil and gas exploration firms and invest in renewable energy companies.
A Goldman Sachs stock portfolio that follows so-called ‘superstar’ companies in the US is beating the stock market, and has done for the last three years, according to CNBC.
The FCA released a report into the Royal Bank of Scotland’s debacle in its dealings with customers after the financial crisis of 2008. But the report was condemned as a ‘complete whitewash’ by critics, after the regulator confirmed it would not punish the bank, reported The Guardian.
As protests hit Hong Kong, market liquidity saw a tightening when regional markets fell, reported Bloomberg. Among the explanations for the retreating liquidity were the demand for cash ahead of the quarter-end, as banks stockpile funds for regulatory checks and companies pay dividends.
On Friday, European stocks traded lower as tensions grew between the US and Iran after attacks on Norwegian and Japanese-owned oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, with the US alleging the action was undertaken by Iran, reported CNBC.
