Deutsche Boerse will pay hefty fines for allowing its chief executive to make share purchases that became the subject of insider trading allegations.
Carsten Kengeter made the purchases shortly before the announcement of formal merger talks with the London Stock Exchange and a subsequent sharp rise in Deutsche Boerse's share price.
In July, the German exchange operator said that the Frankfurt prosecutor had offered a deal to settle the case for fines totalling 10.5m euros.
Deutsche Boerse said it had now decided to accept the fines but maintained that the allegations were unfounded in all respects.
Wall Street at new highs - again
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
For the second day in a row, all three major indices on Wall Street were at new peaks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.2% to 22,156.3, the S&P 500 up 0.1% to 2,498.1 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.1% higher at 6,460.1 points.
Oil jumps
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Crude prices are higher after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said a global surplus of crude was starting to shrink.
US oil rose $1.04, or 2.2%, to $49.27 a barrel and Brent crude added 84 cents to $55.11 a barrel.
"A sharp rebound in US oil production compared with last week has limited gains in crude prices as concerns grow that oil output is recovering faster than refining capacity coming online," said Abhishek Kumar at Global Gas Analytics in London.
'Special case'
Business editor Simon Jack is at the UK Finance dinner:
Philip Hammond's speech comes after the Chancellor chaired the first meeting of the Business Advisory Group.
He, along with Brexit Secretary David Davis and Business Secretary Greg Clark, met the five main business organisations - the Confederation of British Industry, British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, Federation of Small Businesses and the EEF - to hear their concerns and priorities.
Mr Hammond will stress his commitment to maintaining the UK's position, including its leading role in financial technology.
"It is my priority as Chancellor to ensure that the UK remains the financial services centre of the world," he will say.
"And the global hub of fintech. We have the timezone, the language, the legal system, the talent, the capital markets, and the tech centre to succeed."
Hammond: no smokescreens
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Brussels will not be allowed to use Brexit to introduce "protectionist" measures designed to target the City of London, Philip Hammond will tell finance chiefs.
The Chancellor will accept the European Union has legitimate concerns about the supervision of financial markets in London that provide services across the continent.
But in a speech at the UK Finance annual dinner in the City tonight he will warn that those concerns must not be used as a smokescreen to support EU financial centres at the expense of the UK: "We will not accept protectionist agendas, disguised as arguments about financial stability."
On Target
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Who said retail was dead? Target plans to hire 100,000 temporary workers this Christmas - 43% more than last year - as the US discount department store seeks to build on a recent rise in sales.
Retail Metrics analyst Ken Perkins said: "I think Target sees an opportunity to take market share in an environment where we have so many store closures in the specialty apparel and department store space."
Having more staff appears to be aimed at stopping customers walking out because checkouts are too busy or there are no shop assistants available, Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea said.
Target last week cut prices on thousands of items in a move that could bring in more traffic.
"I think they have the potential to have a (better) holiday season than any of their competitors," Mr Perkins added.
The Department of Homeland Security has told US government departments and agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products from their IT systems.
"The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks," it said.
Kaspersky has denied it has ties to any government and said it would not aid cyber espionage.
The company said there is no evidence for accusations by US officials and politicians that its antivirus software may be used to provide espionage services to the Kremlin.
'We will take action'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The Bank of England is taking a close look at financial institutions' plans to handle Brexit and will take action if they pose risks, deputy governor Jon Cunliffe said.
"We are monitoring the plans of the financial institutions in the UK, their plans for how they are going to deal with Brexit. We are also monitoring the plans of all of the European Union firms that operate in the UK," he told Sky News.
"And if we start to see financial stability risks coming out of those plans ... then we will take action."
Many banks are starting to implement plans to move some staff and operations out of the UK before Brexit in March 2019.
Boeing Dreams harder
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Boeing will raise its production of 787 Dreamliner jets to 14 a month in 2019, chief executive Dennis Muilenberg says, pressing ahead with plans that had been placed on hold as it gauged demand for wide-body jets.
The decision to raise output from 12 a month was announced shortly after Boeing struck a preliminary deal to sell eight of the planes to Malaysia Airlines.
Why are wages so weak?
Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Presiding over an economy in which working people are getting poorer every day is not a very comfortable political position to be in. We have seen the cap on public sector workers' pay loosened this week, under pressure from a TUC threatening strike action and a rejuvenated Jeremy Corbyn.
The government will be dearly hoping the Bank is right about wage growth exceeding inflation next year.
We will get an inkling of how confident the Bank is in this prediction when it votes on interest rates tomorrow.
Last time only two out of the nine rate setters thought the time was right to nudge rates higher. Previously one other, chief economist Andy Haldane, has said he might join them later this year.
It will be worth keeping an eye out for how he votes.
George Osborne has reportedly claimed he will not rest until Prime Minister
Theresa May is "chopped up in bags in my freezer", according to a profile of
the chancellor-turned-newspaper editor.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries said the reported comment was an "insight into the way
his mind works", while Mrs May's former aide Nick Timothy also took a swipe at
the former cabinet minister.
The profile in Esquire highlighted the way Mr Osborne had used his editorship
of the London Evening Standard to criticise Mrs May's leadership.
The Prime Minister sacked Mr Osborne when she took over at Number 10 and he
quit as an MP after the surprise announcement of his move into journalism.
Asked for the prime minister's reaction to the Esquire piece, her official
spokesman said: "The contents of the former chancellor's freezer are probably
not a matter for me."
Lord David Currie (pictured), the chairman of the competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority, is stepping down to allow his successor to tackle Brexit.
The departure comes during a busy time for the CMA, which is facing the prospect of investigating 21st Century Fox's bid for broadcaster Sky on top of ongoing probes, such as the £3.7bn merger between Tesco and wholesaler Booker.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will appoint his successor.
Sir David joined the CMA as its first chairman in September 2012.
Dimon comments hit Bitcoin
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Bitcoin fell more than 10% on Wednesday as investors sold the cryptocurrency following a warning by JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon that it "is a fraud" and will eventually "blow up".
The cryptocurrency tumbled to as low as $3,7201 on the Bitstamp exchange before recovering to trade about $3,810, still down 8.7% on the day.
Bitcoin, the first and biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record high just below $5,000 earlier this month but has slipped since then after China banned initial coin offerings, or ICOs.
The market was further spooked by reports early this week that Chinese authorities were planning to forbid any trading of cryptocurrencies and by a warning on ICOs from Britain's financial watchdog, raising fears of a wider crackdown.
"[Mr Dimon] joins a long line of market commentators that have been critical of bitcoin and it potentially being in a bubble, so his comments could have been the tipping point," said James Butterfill at ETF Securities in London.
FTSE falls
The London market slipped about 21 points to end the day at 7,379.7 points, with miners leading the fallers.
On the FTSE 250, Dunelm enjoyed a 8.3% jump after reporting rising sales.
Sky's the limit for Darroch
PACopyright: PA
Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch's annual pay more than trebled to £16.3m last year after he benefited from a generous share award.
The satellite broadcaster's annual report shows that Mr Darroch received an £11.8m share payout as part of his long-term incentive plan on top of his £1m base salary, a £1.9m bonus and £1.4m awarded as part of a co-investment plan.
The £16.3m is more than three times the amount Mr Darroch netted in 2016, when he took home a total of £4.6m.
The annual report also shows Sky's finance chief, Andrew Griffith, took home £9.2m, up from £2.4m, after selling shares worth £6.8m.
Live Reporting
Chris Johnston
All times stated are UK
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Latest PostGood night!
That's all from Business Live for another day - thanks for reading.
We're back again at 06:00 tomorrow so do join us then.
Why so expensive?
Lastly tonight, a little something to spice up your evening:
Deutsche Boerse fined
Deutsche Boerse will pay hefty fines for allowing its chief executive to make share purchases that became the subject of insider trading allegations.
Carsten Kengeter made the purchases shortly before the announcement of formal merger talks with the London Stock Exchange and a subsequent sharp rise in Deutsche Boerse's share price.
In July, the German exchange operator said that the Frankfurt prosecutor had offered a deal to settle the case for fines totalling 10.5m euros.
Deutsche Boerse said it had now decided to accept the fines but maintained that the allegations were unfounded in all respects.
Wall Street at new highs - again
For the second day in a row, all three major indices on Wall Street were at new peaks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.2% to 22,156.3, the S&P 500 up 0.1% to 2,498.1 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.1% higher at 6,460.1 points.
Oil jumps
Crude prices are higher after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said a global surplus of crude was starting to shrink.
US oil rose $1.04, or 2.2%, to $49.27 a barrel and Brent crude added 84 cents to $55.11 a barrel.
"A sharp rebound in US oil production compared with last week has limited gains in crude prices as concerns grow that oil output is recovering faster than refining capacity coming online," said Abhishek Kumar at Global Gas Analytics in London.
'Special case'
Business editor Simon Jack is at the UK Finance dinner:
Fintech vow
Philip Hammond's speech comes after the Chancellor chaired the first meeting of the Business Advisory Group.
He, along with Brexit Secretary David Davis and Business Secretary Greg Clark, met the five main business organisations - the Confederation of British Industry, British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, Federation of Small Businesses and the EEF - to hear their concerns and priorities.
Mr Hammond will stress his commitment to maintaining the UK's position, including its leading role in financial technology. "It is my priority as Chancellor to ensure that the UK remains the financial services centre of the world," he will say. "And the global hub of fintech. We have the timezone, the language, the legal system, the talent, the capital markets, and the tech centre to succeed."
Hammond: no smokescreens
Brussels will not be allowed to use Brexit to introduce "protectionist" measures designed to target the City of London, Philip Hammond will tell finance chiefs.
The Chancellor will accept the European Union has legitimate concerns about the supervision of financial markets in London that provide services across the continent.
But in a speech at the UK Finance annual dinner in the City tonight he will warn that those concerns must not be used as a smokescreen to support EU financial centres at the expense of the UK: "We will not accept protectionist agendas, disguised as arguments about financial stability."
On Target
Who said retail was dead? Target plans to hire 100,000 temporary workers this Christmas - 43% more than last year - as the US discount department store seeks to build on a recent rise in sales.
Retail Metrics analyst Ken Perkins said: "I think Target sees an opportunity to take market share in an environment where we have so many store closures in the specialty apparel and department store space."
Having more staff appears to be aimed at stopping customers walking out because checkouts are too busy or there are no shop assistants available, Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea said.
Target last week cut prices on thousands of items in a move that could bring in more traffic. "I think they have the potential to have a (better) holiday season than any of their competitors," Mr Perkins added.
From pom poms to the Olympics
Curtains for Kaspersky
The Department of Homeland Security has told US government departments and agencies to remove Kaspersky Lab products from their IT systems.
"The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks," it said.
Kaspersky has denied it has ties to any government and said it would not aid cyber espionage.
The company said there is no evidence for accusations by US officials and politicians that its antivirus software may be used to provide espionage services to the Kremlin.
'We will take action'
The Bank of England is taking a close look at financial institutions' plans to handle Brexit and will take action if they pose risks, deputy governor Jon Cunliffe said.
"We are monitoring the plans of the financial institutions in the UK, their plans for how they are going to deal with Brexit. We are also monitoring the plans of all of the European Union firms that operate in the UK," he told Sky News.
"And if we start to see financial stability risks coming out of those plans ... then we will take action."
Many banks are starting to implement plans to move some staff and operations out of the UK before Brexit in March 2019.
Boeing Dreams harder
Boeing will raise its production of 787 Dreamliner jets to 14 a month in 2019, chief executive Dennis Muilenberg says, pressing ahead with plans that had been placed on hold as it gauged demand for wide-body jets.
The decision to raise output from 12 a month was announced shortly after Boeing struck a preliminary deal to sell eight of the planes to Malaysia Airlines.
Why are wages so weak?
Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor
Presiding over an economy in which working people are getting poorer every day is not a very comfortable political position to be in. We have seen the cap on public sector workers' pay loosened this week, under pressure from a TUC threatening strike action and a rejuvenated Jeremy Corbyn.
The government will be dearly hoping the Bank is right about wage growth exceeding inflation next year.
We will get an inkling of how confident the Bank is in this prediction when it votes on interest rates tomorrow.
Last time only two out of the nine rate setters thought the time was right to nudge rates higher. Previously one other, chief economist Andy Haldane, has said he might join them later this year.
It will be worth keeping an eye out for how he votes.
Read more from Simon here.
Osborne using Evening Standard to criticise PM
George Osborne has reportedly claimed he will not rest until Prime Minister Theresa May is "chopped up in bags in my freezer", according to a profile of the chancellor-turned-newspaper editor.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries said the reported comment was an "insight into the way his mind works", while Mrs May's former aide Nick Timothy also took a swipe at the former cabinet minister.
The profile in Esquire highlighted the way Mr Osborne had used his editorship of the London Evening Standard to criticise Mrs May's leadership.
The Prime Minister sacked Mr Osborne when she took over at Number 10 and he quit as an MP after the surprise announcement of his move into journalism.
Asked for the prime minister's reaction to the Esquire piece, her official spokesman said: "The contents of the former chancellor's freezer are probably not a matter for me."
Tall tax?
CMA chair departs
Lord David Currie (pictured), the chairman of the competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority, is stepping down to allow his successor to tackle Brexit.
The departure comes during a busy time for the CMA, which is facing the prospect of investigating 21st Century Fox's bid for broadcaster Sky on top of ongoing probes, such as the £3.7bn merger between Tesco and wholesaler Booker.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will appoint his successor. Sir David joined the CMA as its first chairman in September 2012.
Dimon comments hit Bitcoin
Bitcoin fell more than 10% on Wednesday as investors sold the cryptocurrency following a warning by JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon that it "is a fraud" and will eventually "blow up".
The cryptocurrency tumbled to as low as $3,7201 on the Bitstamp exchange before recovering to trade about $3,810, still down 8.7% on the day.
Bitcoin, the first and biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record high just below $5,000 earlier this month but has slipped since then after China banned initial coin offerings, or ICOs.
The market was further spooked by reports early this week that Chinese authorities were planning to forbid any trading of cryptocurrencies and by a warning on ICOs from Britain's financial watchdog, raising fears of a wider crackdown.
"[Mr Dimon] joins a long line of market commentators that have been critical of bitcoin and it potentially being in a bubble, so his comments could have been the tipping point," said James Butterfill at ETF Securities in London.
FTSE falls
The London market slipped about 21 points to end the day at 7,379.7 points, with miners leading the fallers.
On the FTSE 250, Dunelm enjoyed a 8.3% jump after reporting rising sales.
Sky's the limit for Darroch
Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch's annual pay more than trebled to £16.3m last year after he benefited from a generous share award.
The satellite broadcaster's annual report shows that Mr Darroch received an £11.8m share payout as part of his long-term incentive plan on top of his £1m base salary, a £1.9m bonus and £1.4m awarded as part of a co-investment plan.
The £16.3m is more than three times the amount Mr Darroch netted in 2016, when he took home a total of £4.6m.
The annual report also shows Sky's finance chief, Andrew Griffith, took home £9.2m, up from £2.4m, after selling shares worth £6.8m.