Barclays Share News (BARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Banks being investigated and fined by regulators, and bailed out by taxpayers, led the financial news early Friday, ahead of a shortened pre-Christmas trading session in London.

The US Department of Justice said it filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Barclays Bank and several of its US affiliates, alleging that Barclays engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell residential mortgage-backed securities supported by defective and misrepresented mortgage loans. Barclays was down 0.5% early Friday.

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay USD7.2 billion to settle a US investigation of fraud cases, also involving the sale of mortgage-backed securities. This is half the USD14 billion that the DOJ had demanded in September.

Finally, the Italian government approved a EUR20 billion rescue package for Monte dei Paschi di Siena, expected to lead to the bank's de-facto nationalisation.

The London Stock Exchange closes at 1230 GMT Friday, not reopening again until Wednesday next week. Other stock markets in Europe and in the US are open for full trading days Friday.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 7,056.92
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,908.46
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 831.84
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.3% at 21,574.76
Nikkei 225: Tokyo market shut for holiday
DJIA: closed down 0.1% at 19,918.88
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 2,260.96
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GBP: flat at USD1.2281 (USD1.2291)
EUR: soft at USD1.0441 (USD1.0454)

GOLD: flat at USD1,131.10 per ounce (USD1,131.06)
OIL (Brent): soft at USD54.85 a barrel (USD55.04)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

holiday Japan Emperor's Birthday

0930 UK gross domestic product
0930 UK business investment and index of services
0930 UK current account
1330 Canada gross domestic product
1500 US Michigan consumer sentiment index
1500 US new home sales
1800 US Baker Hughes US oil rig count
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The Italian government approved early Friday a EUR20 billion rescue package for Monte dei Paschi di Siena, expected to lead to the bank's de-facto nationalisation. The aim is to ensure "the widest possible" protection of citizens' savings and make the Italian banking sector "stronger and more solid," Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said after chairing an emergency cabinet. It was called late Thursday after MPS said it could not comply on its own with a European Central Bank order to recapitalise with EUR5 billion by December 31. In a statement issued by its board, the Tuscan lender said its four-day attempt to raise the EUR5 billion, which ended at 2 pm local time, "did not end successfully."
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Planned strikes by British Airways cabin crew on Christmas Day and Boxing Day have been suspended amid continuing industrial unrest ahead of the weekend break. Members of Unite were due to walk out in a dispute over pay but lengthy talks at conciliation service Acas have led to a revised offer which will be put to a ballot of union members. The union said workers employed in the so-called mixed crew - who have joined since 2010 - were on lower pay than other staff. It will now put the offer to a ballot among its more than 2,700 mixed fleet members at BA. British Airways is owned by UK-listed International Consolidated Airlines.
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Thousands of London Underground workers are to stage a 24-hour strike in the new year in a dispute over jobs. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association will walk out from 6pm on Sunday January 8. The unions are embroiled in a long-running dispute over job losses among station staff and ticket office closures.
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Fewer than one-in-three workers are confident in the UK government's ability to negotiate Brexit, a report from jobs website Glassdoor showed. Glassdoor revealed that confidence levels among employees are starting to wane as the process of leaving the EU continues. Confidence is particularly low in regions with the biggest votes to leave, including the Midlands and North East. The survey of more than 2,000 adults showed that half do not believe Brexit will hit their jobs, while one-in-four voiced concern about the impact on their company.
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The UK government is injecting GBP60 million-a-year to help first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder in areas where locals are crowded out of the market by second home owners. Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said the cash would be channelled through local councils to community-led groups providing affordable housing. Around 150 local authority areas across England stand to benefit from the scheme with the largest slice of funding - almost GBP20 million - going to the South West, which has the highest level of second home ownership.
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Germany's consumer confidence is set to improve in the first month of 2017, the Nuremberg-based market research group GfK said in its monthly survey report. The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to 9.9 in January, in line with expectations, from 9.8 in December. This means that the index is expected to enjoy a strong start to 2017.
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The main suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was reportedly filmed eight hours after the deadly incident, at a mosque apparently frequented by Islamist extremists. Local broadcaster rbb late Thursday published CCTV images of 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri in front of the building in the Moabit area, four kilometres from the scene of the attack in central Berlin. The report came hours before police in the western city of Duisburg said they had arrested two men on suspicion of planning an attack on a shopping centre. There was no immediate indication the arrests were linked to the Berlin attack.
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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said police and security agencies disrupted a "very substantial" terrorist plot planned for the Christmas season in Melbourne. "This news will be of great concern to all Australians... We congregate in public places for Christmas, for New Year's Eve. It is a time of happiness and joy. These terrorists sought to disrupt it. They have been thwarted," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.
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The evacuation of the last rebel enclave in eastern Aleppo was completed on Thursday, Syrian government media and watchdog the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The United Nations had earlier said that the evacuation was entering its final phase. The move clears the way for Syrian government forces to regain full control of the devastated city.
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US president-elect Donald Trump called for the US to strengthen its nuclear capability. "The US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes," Trump wrote on Twitter. The comment followed remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin over a potential bolstering of Moscow's capacity. "We need to strengthen the strategic nuclear forces, for that we should develop missiles capable of penetrating any current and prospective missile defence systems," Putin said, according to the TASS news agency.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: KEPLER CHEUVREUX STARTS ASTRAZENECA WITH 'BUY' - PRICE TARGET 5000 PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS RECKITT BENCKISER PRICE TARGET TO 7130 (7430) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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HSBC RAISES ELECTRA PRIVATE EQUITY TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 5255 (4600) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS JUST EAT PRICE TARGET TO 870 (880) PENCE - 'CONVICTION BUY LIST'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The US Department of Justice said it filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Barclays Bank and several of its US affiliates, alleging that Barclays engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell residential mortgage-backed securities supported by defective and misrepresented mortgage loans. According to the lawsuit, from 2005 to 2007, Barclays personnel repeatedly misrepresented the characteristics of the loans backing securities they sold to investors throughout the world, who incurred billions of dollars in losses as a result of the fraudulent scheme.
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Anglo American is rethinking its plans to sell mines, due to the the rebound in commodity prices during the second half of the current fiscal year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. However, the group may continue with the sale of its low-margin mines, according to the report. In February, Anglo American announced measures to reduce net debt, while focusing the group on its core portfolio of diamond, platinum group metals and copper assets. Anglo had targeted raising USD3 billion to USD4 billion from disposals in 2016.
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Drugmaker AstraZeneca said it has completed the sale of its small molecule antibiotics business to US rival Pfizer, a deal first announced in August. AstraZeneca has received an upfront payment of USD550.0 million for the commercialisation and development rights held by the division in all markets where AstraZeneca holds those rights. Pfizer will then pay another USD175.0 million in January 2019 for the unit, up to USD250.0 million in commercial, regulatory and manufacturing milestones, and up to USD600.0 million for sales-related payments and royalties on future sales of the products it bought.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Tritax Big Box REIT said it has exchanged contracts for the forward funding on the development of two new distribution warehouses in Northamptonshire. Tritax, an investor in big box distribution warehouses, said the two new facilities, at Warth Park in Raunds, have been pre-let to kitchens and joinery products firm Howden Joinery Group. Tritax's investment price for the deal will be GBP101.8 million, reflecting a net initial yield on the investment of 5.1%. Practical completion on the project is targeted for August 2018, after which both properties will be leased to Howden on 30-year leases.
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Respiratory medicines maker Vectura Group said it has signed a development and licence agreement for its VR2076 asthma treatment with European pharmaceuticals firm Mundipharma International Corp. Vectura and Mundipharma signed a feasibility and option agreement in December 2015 and, after successful completion of this agreement, the pair have decided to exercise the option to develop VR2076, initially for asthma. The exercise of the option triggers a EUR1.5 million milestone payment to Vectura.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Dee Valley Group reported a slightly lower pretax profit and higher revenue for the first half of its financial year and suspended its dividend pending the outcome of the bidding war for the water utility. Dee Valley, which owns Wrexham Water & Cheshire Waterworks, has been the subject of a takeover fight between UK-listed utility Severn Trent and investment company Ancala Fornia. For the half-year to the end of September, Dee Valley posted a pretax profit of GBP2.2 million, down from GBP2.3 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP12.2 million from GBP11.5 million, but this was offset by higher investment in staffing levels.
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Genel Energy said the third and final well of its Taq Taq drilling programme in Iraq has been completed, with all the wells in the field now flowing oil. Genel said the third well, TT-16y, is naturally flowing at around 8,000 barrels of oil per day, with gross production in the Taq Taq field currently averaging 45,000 bopd to date. Genel's net working interest production from its Taq Taq and Tawke fields in Iraq has averaged 53,500 bopd to date in 2016, with an updated field development plan for Taq Taq due in the first quarter of 2017.
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Oil and gas explorer Amerisur Resources said it has started drilling operations on the Platanillo 24 well at the Platanillo field in Colombia's Putamayo Basin. The well is the second of a minimum of two infill wells planned and will take around 30 days to drill and test, the firm said.
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Social housing company Civitas Social Housing announced a GBP15.0 million deal to acquire a portfolio of supported-living properties in Gloucester, Weston-Super-Mare, the Wirral and Durham. The off-market purchase comprises the freeholds on 17 supported-living properties, each of which is subject to a 25-year lease with two housing associations: Westmoreland Supported Housing Association and IKE Supported Housing Ltd. The deal is the second announced by Civitas since it raised GBP350.0 million by floating on the London Main Market in November.
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Geotechnical contractor Van Elle Holdings said Non-Executive Chairman Michael Ellis will retire at the end of 2016. Ellis founded Van Elle 32 year ago, the company said. Van Elle, which floated on London's AIM market in October, said Adrian Barden, currently senior independent director, will become interim chairman.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Germany's Deutsche Bank said it agreed to pay USD7.2 billion to settle an investigation of fraud cases involving the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. The bank issued a statement early Friday saying it would pay a civil penalty of USD3.1 billion to the US Department of Justice, as well as USD4.1 billion in relief to customers in the US. In September, the DoJ demanded USD14 billion from Deutsche Bank to settle the investigation. In response, the company had said it had "no intent" to settle for that amount, but hoped to reach an amount "materially lower."
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US and allied military forces will upgrade their missile defence capabilities under a new USD1.45 billion contract for production and delivery of Lockheed Martin Corp's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 or PAC-3 and PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement or PAC-3 MSE interceptors. The contract includes PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE missile deliveries for the US Army, and Foreign Military Sales of PAC-3 interceptors, launcher modification kits, associated equipment and spares for Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
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Alibaba Group Holding's on-demand services unit is close to securing USD1.2 billion of funding for expansion after getting backing from first-time investors including Silver Lake Management and China's sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg reported people familiar with the matter. The latest round for Koubei, which deals in local services such as food delivery, will surpass a USD1 billion target with backing from China Investment Corp. The round also includes Yunfeng Capital, a fund backed by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, and values the two-year-old start-up at about USD8 billion, the report said.
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Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is collaborating with Disney and ABC Television Group to produce original shows for its messaging app in 2017. The first of the original shows is set to launch early next year which is a series based on ABC's hit show 'The Bachelor.' The episodic series called Watch Party: The Bachelor will broadcast via Snapchat Discover channel.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings

Mosman Oil and Gas
Frontier IP Group
Lidco Group (re special resolution to extend current authorities)
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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