Good Morning! Here’s what you need to know on Monday.
1. Asian stocks tumbled on Monday as China’s markets reopened after a week-long holiday. The People’s Bank of China said it would ease policy on Sunday, cutting the required reserve ratio for for most Chinese banks by 1%. But the move did little to diminish concerns about trade tensions and the broader Chinese economy, reflected in the large-scale declines seen so far during the session.
2. Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group is to merge its 13 billion pounds ($17.06 billion) wealth management arm into a new joint venture with asset manager Schroders, Sky news reported on Sunday. The deal will see Lloyds owning 50.1 percent of the new joint venture with Schroders owning the rest, Sky said, citing sources.
3. Apple’s top security officer told Congress on Sunday that it had found no sign of suspicious transmissions or other evidence that it had been penetrated in a sophisticated attack on its supply chain. Apple Vice President for Information Security George Stathakopoulos wrote in a letter to the Senate and House commerce committees that the company had repeatedly investigated and found no evidence for the main points in a Bloomberg article published on Thursday.
4. China's antigraft watchdog said late on Sunday that the Chinese authorities were investigating Meng Hongwei, who heads the global law enforcement organization Interpol, for suspected violations of the law. Meng, who is also a vice minister of public security in China, had been reported missing after traveling from France, where Interpol is based, to China, and his wife has been placed under police protection after receiving threats. French police were investigating what it called a "worrying disappearance".
5. A major report prepared by the United Nations body for climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has called for "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society." The report outlines the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.
6. A Bulgarian journalist who reported on an investigation into alleged corruption involving European Union funds has been murdered in the Danube town of Ruse, authorities said on Sunday. Prosecutors in the Balkan country said that the body of 30-year-old Viktoria Marinova was found in a park in Ruse on Saturday. Marinova, who was a board member of the Ruse-based TV station TVN - one of the most popular TV channels in northeastern Bulgaria - is the third journalist to have been murdered in the European Union in a year.
7. Japan said it Japan hopes the US returns to the Trans-Pacific Partnership but an overhaul would be very difficult. Asked about suggestions Britain might join the trade bloc after it leaves the EU, Japan's chief negotiator for TPP, Kazuyoshi Umemoto, told Reuters that any country which endorses the agreement and is interested in joining would be welcome regardless of its geographical location. TPP is set to be signed next month.
8. Walmart said on Monday it would partner with US movie studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer to create content for its video-on-demand service, Vudu, which the retailer bought eight years ago. Walmart has been looking to prop up Vudu's monthly viewership that remains well below that of competitors like Netflix and Hulu, which is controlled by Walt Disney, Comcast Corp and Twenty-First Century Fox.
9. Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro turned his party from a footnote in a crowded Congress into a national behemoth on Sunday, underscoring a seismic shift in Latin America's biggest nation as voters raged against the political establishment. Sunday's strong showing for Bolsonaro allies in legislative elections defied many pollsters' forecasts and suggests the formerly undistinguished congressman could have an easier-than-expected time garnering support for tough economic reforms.
10. The Saudi crown prince said that the stalled plan to sell shares in oil giant Aramco will go ahead, promising an initial public offering by 2021, Bloomberg reported. The state-run firm is worth $2 trillion or more.
