Monday, June 27, 2016

The Implications of the ‘Brexit’ Vote, Stress Tests and Puerto Rico: This Week

ECONOMY

Portugal Hosts Annual Banking Forum

On Monday, Janet L. Yellen, chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, will be among those at the European Central Bank’s annual gathering of economists and central bankers in Sintra, Portugal. Officially, the high-level thinkers and policy makers will be discussing macroeconomic policy and financial regulation at the three-day meeting. But it’s a safe bet that the buzz will be about the implications of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which some blame partly on poor crisis management in the eurozone. Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, is scheduled to speak Tuesday morning, and Ms. Yellen will be on a panel Wednesday afternoon. JACK EWING
BANKING

Annual Bank Stress Tests, Part 2

The Federal Reserve will tell the nation’s largest banks on Wednesday whether they passed or failed their annual stress tests. The 33 largest banks learned last week how they broadly performed when the Fed announced the first round of test results. But on Wednesday, they will find out whether they got a passing or failing grade, and whether they will be able to follow through with their plans to distribute money to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Most of the banksdid well on the first round of tests, which has many analysts expecting that the banks will win approval for their distribution plans. NATHANIEL POPPER
TECHNOLOGY

Yahoo Asset Sale a Likely Topic at Annual Meeting

Yahoo will hold its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. There are no big questions on the ballot since the company avoided a threatened proxy fight in April after agreeing to appoint four directors chosen by the Starboard Value hedge fund to the board. Still, executives and board members are likely to face questions from restive stockholders about Yahoo’s slow progress in selling its core internet business, even as that business continues to deteriorate. Final bids are due in early July, with Verizon and several private equity consortia remaining top contenders. VINDU GOEL
PHARMACEUTICALS

F.D.A. Considers Language for Diabetes Drug Label

Last year, Jardiance became the first modern diabetes drug to demonstrate in a clinical trial that it could reduce deaths from heart attacks and other cardiovascular causes. On Tuesday, a committee of expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will discuss whether those results can be included in the drug’s label. If so, that could give a big boost to sales of the product, which is sold jointly by Eli Lilly and Company and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Like other drugs for type 2 diabetes, Jardiance, also known as empagliflozin, was allowed onto the market based on its ability to lower blood sugar, not to reduce complications of diabetes.
In documents released on Friday, the F.D.A. said there were various shortcomings in the data from the trial. For instance, Jardiance did not reduce the risk of nonfatal heart attacks and strokes, and the study was not designed to measure its effect on heart failure. Still, the staff acknowledged that looking only at death from cardiovascular causes, the drug was effective. “We believe these documents should be a relief,” Vamil K. Divan, an analyst at Credit Suisse who follows Lilly, said in a note on Friday. ANDREW POLLACK
AIRLINES

United Flight Attendants May Get Details on New Contract

Ever since United merged with Continental in 2010, their flight attendants have been operating as if they still work for two separate airlines — pre-merger United flight attendants can only work on legacy United planes, and former Continental flight attendants work exclusively on Continental planes. The divided work force has led to operational challenges, including flight delays. But the Association of Flight Attendants, the union representing those employees, said it had reached a preliminary deal with the airline on Friday. Union leaders will meet in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday to finalize the contract before it is sent to the company’s 25,000 flight attendants for a vote on its final approval. ANNALYN KURTZ
BOND FINANCING

Puerto Rico Likely to Default on $1.9 Billion

On Friday, Puerto Rico is expected to default on scheduled debt payments totaling $1.9 billion, its biggest and most consequential default to date. In April, the island’s legislature gave Governor Alejandro García Padilla the power to declare a debt moratorium, and to bar creditors from suing to get their money. It is not clear that the law is constitutional.
Some of Puerto Rico’s creditors are still trying to negotiate debt restructuring. In Washington, legislation to give Puerto Rico debt reliefhas passed the House of Representatives and was expected to be taken up by the Senate this week, but it is unclear if that will happen by Friday. The bill would bar creditor lawsuits and give Puerto Rico certain restructuring powers normally available only in bankruptcy. It would also establish a federal oversight board for the island. MARY WILLIAMS WALSH


The Implications of the ‘Brexit’ Vote, Stress Tests and Puerto Rico

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