Monti set to resign, new stance on global internet regulation

On Saturday, Italy has crawled back to the center of attention of the eurozone blow-up. Mario Monti, the country’s unelected prime minister, announced his intended resignation following the approval of the Italy’s 2013 budget. The FT summarizes:

The 2013 budget law is expected to receive parliamentary approval before the Christmas recess. Whether parliament is dissolved immediately and Italy heads into snap elections in early February – rather than in March or April as had been expected – depends on Mr Napolitano. The president could decide instead to ask for a vote of confidence in the government and appoint a provisional prime minister who would oversee the passage of key economic reform legislation still before parliament.

Last week Thursday, the Italian parliament faced turmoil, after Berlusconi’s party walked out of a vote on fiscal matters. Since then, rumors got louder that Silvio Berlusconi will try to return to office. He is currently being charged for relations with an underage prostitute and abuse of power (possibly related, but two court cases). In Italy, all legal charges are put on hold if an individual is running for a public office. Berlusconi had been convicted to four years imprisonment for tax fraud in October 2012, which was later reduced to one year and then to the prohibition from ever running for office again. Clearly, that has not worked out so well. But the left ranks before Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party in the polls. The Wall Street Journal spoke to Pier Luigi Bersanti, the current favorite according to said polls. read article

Japan is finding itself back in recession, after Q2 GDP was revised down from 0.1% growth to -0.1% (annualized and seasonally adjusted). Shinzo Abe, who is leading the opposition in the election on Sunday, wants unlimited monetary easing and more stimulus until the economy gets back on track. Expectations, however, point at another quarter of negative growth for the end of the year. read article

Meanwhile in Dubai, the Arab state delegation, supported by Russia and China, have proposed a

new regulatory framework for the internet. The opposition, simply put the Western world, is strongly in favor of the current regulation, which doesn’t regulate so much. read article

American and British financial regulators are working on a blueprint on how to deal with failing banks, or more specifically, failing G-SIFIs (global systemically important financial institutions). Once agreed, the new regime is meant to protect tax payers on either side of the Atlantic, while drawing on creditors and shareholders. read article

According to this Sunday’s New York Times Bloomberg is looking into buying the Financial Times, which also includes a 50% stake in The Economist. The other possible bidder is, of course, Thomson Reuters. The Financial Times Group is estimated to be worth around $1.2bn. read article

So long.

Filed under: news brief, bailout, Bloomberg, budget, Financial Times, fraud, GDP, growth, internet, Italy, Japan, journalism, legal, Mario Monti, recession, regulation, Reuters, Silvio Berlusconi, tax, The Economist, UK, US, Wall Street Journal