RTR - Russian military holds exercises in breakaway Moldova region: agency

Russian military holds exercises in breakaway Moldova region: agency

(Reuters) - Russia's military staged training exercises on Tuesday in Transdniestria, a breakaway sliver of Moldova that is a focus of tension following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

NATO's top military commander said on Sunday he was worried that Russia might have its eye on Transdniestria, a largely Russian-speaking region that borders western Ukraine, after seizing Crimea, which has a narrow ethnic Russian majority.

The Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for Russia's Western Military District, Colonel Oleg Kochetkov, as saying that Russian forces stationed in Transdniestria had "conducted an anti-terrorism drill and practiced operations to rebuff an attack on their military base".

Transdniestria, with a population of half a million, has run its own affairs since 1992 after fighting a brief war against the Moldovan government over fears that it might join Romania after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia has a permanent garrison of peacekeepers there.

Russia has held several military drills during months of political upheaval in Ukraine. Some have brought large Russian forces close to Ukraine's eastern border, adding to concerns of an invasion after President Vladimir Putin secured permission from parliament to send in troops to protect Russians if needed.

Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman for Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, responsible for Russia's long-range nuclear arsenal, said around 10,000 troops would take part in exercises until March 29 in western Siberia's Omsk region and Orenburg in the southern Urals, more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Russia's border with Ukraine.

FT : Bundesbank hawk signals backing for QE

Bundesbank hawk signals backing for QE

One of the biggest barriers to the European Central Bank buying government bonds to save the eurozone from deflation was removed on Tuesday, after the head of Germany’s powerful Bundesbank offered his first sign of support for quantitative easing.
In a radical change of stance, Jens Weidmann, the Bundesbank president who is viewed as the ECB’s policy hawk, said a QE programme was not “generally out of the question”.

While he was clear he would prefer purchases of private-sector assets to government debt, he signalled he could back sovereign bond-buying if it conformed with EU law, which prohibits the financing of governments by its monetary authority.
“It should be clear that my assessment [of whether QE violates EU law] will be a strict one,” he told the financial news service Market News International. “Buying not just peripheral bonds but German and French ones as well does not automatically solve the problem of monetary financing.”
Neither Mr Weidmann nor the bulk of the ECB’s rate-setting governing council are likely to call for buying public or private-sector bonds just yet. But the Bundesbank chief’s remarks indicate ECB president Mario Draghi could push through QE without alienating the eurozone’s economic powerhouse – should the risk of a bout of Japanese-style deflation heighten.
Mr Weidmann had in the past objected to the ECB buying government bonds. He was the only policy maker to vote against its “outright monetary transactions” programme, through which it can buy potentially unlimited quantities of sovereign debt.
Now, with the ECB grappling with inflation of less than half its target of just below 2 per cent, the Bundesbank president appears to have softened his position. Ken Wattret, economist at BNP Paribas, said: “The comments sound somewhat more open-minded to the idea of additional policy action from the ECB, including unconventional measures, though with little sense of urgency.”
Low eurozone inflation has stoked calls for the central bank to buy government bonds and embark on other unconventional policy options, such as negative rates on deposits parked in its coffers. The ECB has so far parried the calls, opting to keep policy on hold earlier this month despite unveiling forecasts showing inflation would remain well below its target the year after next at 1.5 per cent.
Mr Weidmann made clear the current policy stance was “appropriate”. And even if the risk of a bout of falling prices rose substantially, he indicated the ECB would have to buy a host of assets, including not just the bonds of governments but also private-sector securities, to win his approval.
Officials in three of the ECB’s directorates – for market operations, legal and economics – are working on proposals for how the central bank could conduct QE and take other unconventional measures.

>>> ECB's Weidmann (Germany): ECB would be in uncharted territory if it were to

ECB's Weidmann (Germany): ECB would be in uncharted territory if it were to adopt QE, ECB needs to respect the limits of its mandate
- Markets are rewarding the eurozone for reform progress, and all indications are that the eurozone recovery will continue. 
- Still too early to say eurozone debt crisis is over. 
- Broad deflation risks are very limited. 
- Current EUR FX level does not warrant monetary policy action. Current ECB monetary policy remains expansive. 
- Economic sanctions on Russia could compound the negative impact on the Russian economy following accession of Crimea

Dutch Antitrust Regulator Seeks to Assess Liberty/Ziggo Deal

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Dutch Antitrust Regulator Seeks to Assess Liberty/Ziggo Deal 2014-03-25 17:16:42.869 GMT

By Elco van Groningen March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says merger should be assessed in Netherlands, filed request for referral at European Commission today. * ACM says it knows Dutch market best * Says merger is a matter of national concern, as the cables run through Dutch territory, and connected customers are solely Dutch households * Says merger request was initially filed with EC because of level of rev. at Liberty Global and Ziggo * Explains EC has until early May to decide which authority assesses merger Link to Statement (in English)

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story: Elco van Groningen in Amsterdam at +31-20-589-8517 or vangroningen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at +44-20-7673-2814 or sthiel1@bloomberg.net

(BFW) *UK TO SELL ABOUT 7.5% OF LLOYDS BANKING GROUP

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BN 03/25 16:36 *UK: PLACING IS EXPECTED TO COMPRISE ABOUT 5.35B OF LLOYDS SHRS BN 03/25 16:36 *UK TO SELL ABOUT 7.5% OF LLOYDS BANKING GROUP BN 03/25 16:36 *UK FINL INV LD INTENTION TO DISPOSE 7.5% LLOYDS BANKING GROUP BN 03/25 16:36 *UK FINL INV LD INTENTION TO DISPOSE C. 7.5% LLOYDS BANKING

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*UK TO SELL ABOUT 7.5% OF LLOYDS BANKING GROUP 2014-03-25 16:36:51.109 GMT

See {NSN N303G43HBS3K <GO>} for the RNS Newswire press release.

See {LLOY LN Equity CN <GO>} for company news.

-0- Mar/25/2014 16:36 GMT

>>> M&A in 2014...appear to be a poor year for now, look at this other chart

Following this bbg I just want to add this quick chart where I just added the performance of S&P with M&A Activity, there is a kind of correlation...I think it will also a good data to follow
See the chart atatched
----- Original Message -----
From: LAURENT CHEKROUN ()
At: Mar 25 2014 15:01:22

It looks like we are touching lowest levels of 2008 in terms of M&A Deal announced, I am not sure if it gives us some indications on what corporates are thinking of that valutations but it looks like to me that the only buyers in this markets are investors chasing for yield....

I don't think this move is over but I really think that this just add anothe data showing us that valuation start to look a bit stretched...


See chart attached