- ECB's Nowotny - ESM banking license could be advantageous (Reuters) - just keep regurgitating headlines until they generate a short squeeze
- IMF Says China Downside Risks Significant as Growth Slows (Bloomberg)
- Moody's cuts outlook on EU stability facility to negative (Reuters)
- Rome places spending controls on Sicily (FT)
- Big banks' glory days feared to be gone for good (Reuters)
- China's CNOOC scoped Nexen, partnered, then pounced (Reuters)
- Germany backs Spanish austerity plans (FT)
- Are 2012 Games one too many for London? (Reuters)
- Euro Crisis Spreading East Damps Growth, Development Bank Says (Bloomberg)
- Japan Flags Yen-Sales Impact as BOJ Eyes More Easing (Bloomberg)
- BOK’s Kim Says He Sees Downside Risk to 3% Growth Target (Bloomberg)
- New Bank of Japan board members doubt CPI to rise quickly (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Ghana, one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, faced a period of transition after President John Evans Atta Mills's sudden death Tuesday, just months before he was to face re-election. Mr. Mills, 68 years old, died in a military hospital after falling ill Monday.
* New Enterprise Associates has closed one of the largest venture funds ever raised at $2.6 billion after a fundraising that uncovered "enormous interest in venture capital as an asset class," said Peter Barris, the firm's managing general partner.
* Wal-Mart Stores Inc urged merchants to reject a pending multibillion-dollar settlement reached by Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc in lawsuits filed by retailers over credit-card processing fees.
* British prosecutors plan to charge a private investigator and seven former journalists at News Corp's News of the World - including Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson - with phone-hacking related offenses. The eight defendants collectively face 19 charges of conspiracy.
* Russia's economy is more vulnerable to the effects of the euro zone's fiscal and banking crises as commodity prices fall, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said Wednesday.
* Google Inc appears closer to avoiding a protracted battle with European antitrust regulators after officials said they had reached a "good understanding" with the internet search giant during discussions to address "concerns" over its business practices.
FT
COULSON AND BROOKS CHARGED OVER HACKING
Andy Coulson, the prime minister's former spin doctor, and Rebekah Brooks, a former top executive in Rupert Murdoch's media empire, are to be charged with phone hacking.
GOOGLE AGREES EU ANTITRUST DEAL OUTLINE
Google has agreed the outlines of a settlement with the European Commission, in a deal that would spare the U.S. search engine from formal antitrust charges.
ROSNEFT EYE BP'S STAKE IN TNK-BP
State oil company Rosneft is in talks to buy half of Russia's third-largest oil company, TNK-BP.
SMALL BANKS FEAR FALLOUT OF EU SAFETY RULES
Small European banks are warning that tough EU rules could impact on their capital costs and force them to cut back lending.
BARCLAYS NAMES VETERAN LAWYER TO LEAD REVIEW
Barclays said veteran lawyer Anthony Salz will lead a review of its business practices following the Libor scandal.
STEEP FALL IN PROFITS FOR DEUTSCHE BANK
Deutsche Bank reported a steep fall in quarterly profits in its first results under new co-chief executives.
APPLE DISAPPOINTS AS IPHONE SALES ABATE
Apple results fell short of expectations as global economic growth accounted for a slump in iphone sales.
FORMER ANGLO IRISH CHIEF ARRESTED
Former chairman and chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank Sean FitzPatrick was arrested on Tuesday in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the bank.
RICH DONORS BACK GAY MARRIAGE
A group of wealthy pro-Republican hedge fund managers is backing efforts to legalise same-sex marriage.
NYT
* In a move that could lay bare the inner workings of the consumer data industry, eight members of Congress have opened a sweeping investigation into data brokers - companies that collect, analyze and sell billions of details annually about consumers' offline and online activities.
* John Atta Mills, the president of Ghana, died at a military hospital in the capital, Accra, five months short of finishing his first term in office. He was 68.
* Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, both former editors of The News of the World, and the six others against whom criminal charges were laid, may face possible prison terms of up to two years if convicted.
* Square, the mobile payments start-up best known for its pint-size credit card reader, is close to raising roughly $200 million, which would give the company an implied valuation of $3.25 billion, people briefed on the matter said.
* John Kinnucan, founder of Broadband Research, based in Portland, Ore, who gained notoriety for taunting the federal government over its pursuit of insider trading is expected to plead guilty in the U.S. District Court, according to people briefed on the matter.
* Uncertainties about Netflix Inc's subscriber growth scared investors after the company reported a return to profitability in the second quarter of the year.
* The Congressional Budget Office said that the Supreme Court decision on President Obama's health care overhaul would probably lead to an increase in the number of uninsured and a modest reduction in the cost to the federal government when compared with estimates before the ruling.
Russia
VEDOMOSTI
- Ford Sollers has started production of Ford Kuga, Ford S-Max, Ford Galaxy and Ford Explorer models at the Elabuga plant in Tatarstan.
KOMMERSANT
- Russian state coffers could get an additional one trillion roubles ($30.52 billion) over the next five years if free circulation of handguns is allowed, according to the sponsor behind the planned new legislation, deputy head of the Russian parliament's upper chamber, Alexander Torshin.
- Russia's transport ministry is ready to raise railway tariffs for cargo shipments by 7 percent from 2013.
IZVESTIA
- Russia's lawmakers could seek to ban abortions performed in private hospitals as the number of illegal procedures there stands at 5-6 million annually, Yelena Mizulina, head of the Duma's committee on family relations, says in an interview.
ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA
- Russia is planning to launch the construction of a second line of the Baikal-Amur rail link designed to transport 12.6 million tonnes of cargo every year, a presidential envoy to Russia's Far East Victor Ishayev says in an interview.
RBK Daily
- Russia will need up to 300 million roubles ($9.16 million)to train at least 300 officials to represent its interests in the World Trade Organization, the daily says.
European economic update
- UK GDP -0.7% q/q -0.8% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus -0.2% q/q -0.3% y/y. Previous -0.3% q/q -0.2% y/y.
- German IFO Business Climate 103.3 – lower than expected. Consensus 104.5. Previous 105.3.