Daily Agenda: Deutsche Bank Concerns Cast Shadow over European Markets

Increasing concerns over the stability of Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, hang over the European financial sector today after the German Ministry of Finance officially denied plans to bail out the troubled lender. Despite the denial of state aid, the bank’s shares rebounded modestly by more than 3 percent in early trading at one point, suggesting that at least some investors are becoming more confident that U.S. regulators will back down from demand for more than $14 billion to settle charges related to mortgage-backed securities sold prior to the credit crisis.Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan已经推出了一项公共关系活动，让投资者放心，今天早上在德国最大的流通报纸上采访，他坚持要求不需要救助。银行失败的前景是向欧元区发布的。和Volkswagen already deeply troubleddue to ongoing investigations around the world into its emissions scandal, a threat to the financial sector in Europe’s largest economy could weigh on demand across the region.

沙特阿拉伯表示愿意处理交易。In Algiers, at an unofficial meeting of leaders of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, media comments suggest that the group is working towards a deal ahead of the official November OPEC meeting. Saudi Energy minister Khalid Al-Falih signaled a willingness to apply oil-production caps that would still allow economically fragile OPEC members such as Iran, Algeria and Libya to pump at current levels and generate desperately needed revenues. Brent-grade futures contracts for front-month delivery regained only a small portion of Tuesday’s pullback in early trading today.

酿造巨头的合并清除障碍。差不多一年Anheuser-Busch InBev宣布打算收购SabMiller，Sabmiller股东正式批准该交易，该交易价值超过1000亿美元。在今天发布的一份声明中，Sabmiller表示，超过95％的股东已投票赞成该合并。Anheuser-Busch股东预计将于今天稍后批准合并。该交易将创建一个控制大约三分之一的全球啤酒销售的公司，预计将于10月10日关闭。

RBS settles U.S. suit.In a statement issued yesterday, the U.S. National Credit Union Administration announced an agreement to settle with Royal Bank of Scotland Group over the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the leadup to the credit crisis. The settlement roughly amounts to $1.1 billion. As part of the agreement, RBS does not admit fault and officials at the bank stated that the cost of the settlement will be covered by provisions already set aside. The bank still faces challenges over MBS practices from the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Justice Department.

Steinhoff raises funds for further expansion.Steinhoff International Holdings announced today that South African billionaire Christoffel Wiese will be investing $1.8 billion into a secondary equity round as the company seeks to fund overseas expansion. Over the past year, the company has acquired large retailers in the U.K. and U.S., bringing the total number of stores operated by the furniture seller to 6,500. Wiese, South Africa’s wealthiest man as well as Steinhoff’s chairman and largest shareholder, has spent most of his career developing retail chains.

Wal-Mart to invest in Indian online retailer.Bloomberg today reported thatWal-Mart Storesis close to announcing an investment in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart Online Services as part of a joint effort to prevent Amazon.com from achieving online retail dominance in India. According to the report based on unnamed sources, the total size of the investment may be as much as $1 billion. Flipkart is currently the largest online retail outlet in India but has faced stiffening competition from Amazon.