Breakingviews
Breakingviews - Equifax hack provides an Exxon Valdez moment
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - When Americans are hacked, they turn to three big consumer-credit agencies for help with identity theft. What happens when one of them, Equifax, is hit by hackers who steal sensitive personal information on 143 million people?
Breakingviews - Review: Bank of England's present echoes in past
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - The debates that swirl around the Bank of England today have echoed throughout its past. Familiar themes recur in “Till Time’s Last Sand”, David Kynaston’s magisterial history of the 323-year-old institution’s evolution from government lender to modern central bank. Contemporary arguments over independence, the right approach to monetary policy, bank bailouts and the City of London’s future turn out to be as timeworn as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street herself
Breakingviews - Insurance giants may get another chance in China
WASHINGTON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Global insurers may get another bite at the Chinese cherry. After meeting with representatives from several foreign operators, Chen Wenhui, vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, pledged to further open the market. Executives have heard such promises before, but a recent shakeup of the industry and its regulator by Beijing could provide real opportunity.
Viewsroom: Harvey’s path of financial destruction
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Texas is facing $180 bln in hurricane cleanup costs, the most of any U.S. natural disaster. The Lone Star State has the wherewithal and chutzpah to cover a large chunk, yet expects Washington to pick up most of the tab. Global water risks, meanwhile, may require $12 trln to fix.
Breakingviews - Swedish banks unfairly left out in the cold
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - The likes of SEB, Handelsbanken and Nordea are stable, well capitalised and dull. Investors have spurned them in favour of eurozone banks. Yet the Swedes’ generous dividends are attractive – and if Nordea’s move to Finland leads to lighter regulation, they may get more so.
Breakingviews - Deutsche Bank CEO tells truth to robotic employees
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan wants his robot-like colleagues to embrace their inner “revolutionary spirit” as they stand to be replaced by artificial intelligence. Critics might retort there is nothing innovative in getting fired. Deutsche’s shareholders, though, should welcome Cryan’s comments, while the bank’s staff may justifiably feel uncomfortable. They are among the most vulnerable as bloated German lenders seek to slash their payrolls.
Breakingviews - Cheap data feeds Murdoch’s Indian cricket pitch
MUMBAI (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rupert Murdoch knows better than anyone that content is king. The media mogul, through his unit Star India, this week agreed to pay $2.6 billion for the global rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL). The huge outlay highlights the brash sport’s rapid rise and a race between traditional television and new digital players to secure content.
Breakingviews - Facebook's fuzzy math blurs its TV picture
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Facebook could do with some new friends in data. Its estimated audience doesn’t square with an official U.S. demographic tally. A growing list of counting problems could spell trouble as the $500 billion social network pushes into streaming and other higher-value material.
Breakingviews - Record basketball price is timely bet on Houston
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - An American casino mogul is making a timely bet on Houston. The owner of both the Golden Nugget gaming enterprise and the Landry's restaurant empire will pay $2.2 billion for the Houston Rockets basketball team. Buying a trophy asset as the city rebuilds from Hurricane Harvey makes for awkward timing. And yet the deal also suggests an abiding faith in a recovery.
Breakingviews - “Angry Birds” maker preps dubious market catapult
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - The maker of “Angry Birds” is prepping a dubious stock market catapult. Investors may relearn a crucial lesson from physics and addictive mobile games: what goes up tends to come down.
About Breakingviews
Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. As the Reuters brand for financial commentary, we dissect the big business and economic stories as they break around the world every day. A global team of about 30 correspondents in New York, London, Hong Kong and other major cities provides expert analysis in real time. Sign up for a free trial of our full service at http://www.breakingviews.com/trial and follow us on Twitter @Breakingviews and at www.breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.