Friday newspaper round-up: Food prices, McDonald's, Brexit
Britain’s final salary pension funds have slashed their ownership of stock-market listed companies to just 7% of their total holdings following a huge shift in recent years to overseas stock markets and government bonds. The move away from owning UK stocks emphasises how dependent Britain’s estimated 13.5 million past and present final salary scheme members have become on returns from shares in US, continental and emerging market companies to generate a retirement income. – Guardian
Food prices will rise unless the government ensures EU citizens can work in the UK after Brexit, according to industry groups representing the major supermarkets and food manufacturers, including the owner of Marmite. The open letter to the government is signed by 30 food and drink industry bodies, including the Food and Drink Federation, which represents major suppliers, including Marmite maker Unilever and Mr Kipling owner Premier foods; the British Retail Consortium, which counts Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons among its members, and the National Farmers Union. – Guardian
The British economy has received a post-Brexit vote of confidence from one of America’s best known companies after McDonald’s announced it will move its non-US operations to London, abandoning its base in Luxembourg. The fast-food giant has chosen the UK to establish a new holding company to collect hundreds of millions of pounds a year in royalties from its international franchise operations. – Telegraph
The long-feared moment of bond tapering in the eurozone has arrived. The comfort blanket is being pulled away - gently - for the first time since the region first crashed into a debt crisis. The European Central Bank has tried to cushion the blow with dovish rhetoric and a glacially slow exit but there is no denying that monetary policy has reached a critical turning point. "The ECB has delivered an unwelcome surprise," said Luigi Speranza from BNP Paribas. - Telegraph
Businesses plan to cut back on investment and wages next year to protect profits after Brexit, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In its latest economic forecast, built on the views of corporate clients, the ICAEW argues that investment will fall sharply and pay will expand at its slowest pace in four years as unemployment creeps up. - The Times
The European and US authorities are examining Glencore’s Rosneft deal for a possible violation of sanctions against Russia, an American official has said. Glencore and Qatar are in advanced talks to buy a €10.2 billion stake in the state-controlled oil producer, from the Russian government. Rosneft, which produces one barrel in every 20 globally, was put under economic sanctions by the EU and the US in 2014 in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. – The Times