1 Negative interest rates hit European banks (BBC) Swiss
bank UBS will start charging customers who deposit more than a million euros,
as negative interest rates hit banks' profits. The annual 0.6% charge will take
affect from May. UBS already imposes charges for large accounts held in Swiss
francs by companies and some wealthy clients.
Banks' profits have been hit by the European Central
Bank's policy of stimulating growth through negative interest rates and
increased liquidity. The ECB penalises banks that store euros with it in an
effort to make them lend rather than hoard their cash.
It imposes a so-called negative rate, equivalent to
four euros annually on each 1,000 euros that lenders deposit with the central
bank. Banks in Sweden and Switzerland, which are outside the eurozone, pay a
similar charge.
A UBS spokesman said: "This charge reflects the
increasing costs seen across the industry of reinvesting cash from deposits in
money and capital markets, the continued extraordinarily low and negative
interest rates in the euro area and increased liquidity regulations."
Commerzbank has even considered storing cash in
vaults to avoid paying ECB fees. The policy of penalising banks has come under
criticism in Germany because it discourages saving.
2 Fresh oil glut predicted (Khaleej Times) New
production projects and a fresh shale boom could boost oil output by a million
barrels per day (bpd) year on year and result in an oversupply in the next
couple of years, according to Goldman Sachs.
"2017-19 is likely to see the largest increase
in mega projects' production in history, as the record 2011-13 capex commitment
yields fruit," the US investment bank said in a research note. The Opec's
landmark decision to limit output for the first time in eight years in a bid to
arrest the existing supply glut reduced price volatility and increased
stability, unintentionally helping the shale producers, the bank said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries agreed to curb its output by about 1.2 million bpd from January 1
this year. Russia and 10 other non-Opec producers agreed to jointly cut by an
additional 600,000 bpd.
3 FTSE 100 CEOs earn 386 times average worker (Katie
Allen in The Guardian) The average FTSE chief executive earns 386 times more
than a worker on the national living wage, according to an analysis published
by the Equality Trust as it steps up its campaign for new government rules to
expose pay gaps.
The charity used annual reports from 2015 for all
the companies in the FTSE 100 to calculate that their CEOs pocket an average of
£5.3m each year, compared with £13,662 for someone on the national living wage
of £7.20 an hour.
The trust issues its findings amid growing worries
over a squeeze on living standards from sluggish pay growth and rising
inflation. The pressures on households stem partly from Brexit worries knocking
the pound lower and raising the price of imports to the UK. Those factors
underscore the challenge for Theresa May to take the UK out of the EU while
vowing to cut inequality and create an economy that “works for everyone”.
Chiming with research by other groups that suggests
the squeeze will accentuate inequality, the trust found more than two-thirds
(67%) of FTSE 100 CEOs were paid more than 100 times the average UK salary.
The trust’s “pay tracker” report highlights the big
gaps between FTSE bosses such as Sir Martin Sorrell of advertising firm WPP,
who was awarded more than £40m in 2016, and public sector workers, who have
seen their incomes squeezed by years of austerity.
The Equality Trust analysis found that FTSE 100
chief executives are now paid 165 times more than a nurse, 140 times more than
a teacher, 132 times more than a police officer and 312 times more than a care
worker.
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