- Monte dei Paschi’s Future Hangs on Sunday Vote (WSJ)
- Trump Son-in-Law Jared Kushner Could Face Conflict-of-Interest Questions (WSJ)
- In OPEC’s High-Stakes Poker Game, Iran and Iraq Call Saudi Bluff (BBG)
- Iran, Iraq at loggerheads with Saudis ahead of OPEC meeting (Reuters)
- High-Profile Private Investors Take Hit on Theranos (WSJ)
- Trump Bubble Burst Will Drive Yen to 98 per Dollar: UBS Wealth (BBG)
- Euro-Area Confidence Rises as ECB Reviews Asset-Purchase Program (BBG)
- Arrested Russian minister wanted state to cede control over Rosneft (Reuters)
- Supersonic Is Coming Back. Will the Airlines Buy It? (BBG)
- China Looks to Loosen Job Security Law in Face of Slowing Growth (WSJ)
- Samsung Electronics Is Heading for a Split (BBG)
- How Amazon Gets Its Holiday Hires Up to Speed in Two Days (WSJ)
- Chinese firms hit by huge increase in cyber attacks (Reuters)
- FBI and NSA Poised to Gain New Surveillance Powers Under Trump (BBG)
- Jeweler Tiffany posts first sales rise in eight quarters (Reuters)
- France and Britain In Danger of Winter Power Shortages (BBG)
- A Billionaire Real Estate Mogul Can’t Find Love in Hillaryland (BBG)
Overnight Media Wrap
WSJ
- Theranos Inc received much of its funding from high-profile private investors who weren't part of the ecosystem that typically backs startups and could see their stakes wiped out by the blood-testing company's regulatory and technological troubles, people familiar with the matter said. http://on.wsj.com/2fKs7CB
- The real-estate company controlled by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, has hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from domestic and foreign banks. Those and other financing arrangements could draw fresh conflict-of-interest scrutiny even if he is an unpaid adviser to the president-elect. http://on.wsj.com/2fKow7e
- At least 11 people were injured Monday at Ohio State University after a student allegedly jumped a curb in a motor vehicle, then slashed pedestrians with a butcher knife before he was shot and killed. http://on.wsj.com/2ft72OB
- To prepare for the flood of holiday orders just under way, Amazon.com has been using technology ranging from touch screens to robots to shrink the time it takes to train new hires at its warehouses to as little as two days. http://on.wsj.com/2frIS6I
- President-elect Donald Trump has chosen House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price as his nominee for secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, according to a transition team adviser, putting the six-term congressman in charge of the sprawling agency that will likely dismantle Democrats' 2010 health-care overhaul. http://on.wsj.com/2fZhXvq
- Beijing wants to give every citizen a score based on behavior such as spending habits, turnstile violations and filial piety, which can blacklist citizens from loans, jobs, air travel. http://on.wsj.com/2gz8PkN
- Crude-oil futures fell in Asia due to growing doubts that the world's biggest oil producers would reach a deal to cut global output. http://on.wsj.com/2grbaLt
- Time Inc rejected two overtures from Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Access Industries that offered at least $18 per share for the country's largest magazine publisher, according to people familiar with the matter. http://on.wsj.com/2fGM8GU
- Activist investor Elliott Management Corp called for change at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, a $34.6 billion IT-outsourcing firm whose growth prospects have been upended by the rise of cloud computing. http://on.wsj.com/2gaL5Tm
- People began lining up early Monday morning at Revolution Square here in the heart of the capital to say farewell to Fidel Castro, the all-powerful strongman who installed a Communist state that challenged the U.S. and shaped every facet of life for his compatriots. http://on.wsj.com/2ftNhWM
- American Airlines Group Inc and JetBlue Airways Corp on Monday launched the first scheduled flights between the U.S. and Havana in half a century, leading what is set to become a parade of U.S. carriers offering regular service to the Cuban capital. http://on.wsj.com/2gPfcRB
FT
BT Group Plc said Mike McTighe, former board member of Ofcom, has been appointed the first chairman of Openreach, BT's fixed network business.
Actelion Ltd is considering a complex deal to combine with Johnson & Johnson's pharma business that would leave the Swiss drugmaker independent from the U.S. healthcare company, people close to the discussions said. J&J would become a major shareholder in the new, larger biotech company and could be asked to add some cash to complete the deal, the people said.
Philip Clarke, the former chief executive of Tesco Plc , will not face charges from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over the accounting scandal that rocked Britain's biggest retailer in 2014, his lawyer said on Monday.
Britain's accounting watchdog has begun an investigation into Grant Thornton's auditing of financial statements published by Sports Direct, it said on Monday, dealing another blow to the troubled sportswear retailer.
NYT
- Delta Air Lines has barred a disruptive passenger who shouted pro-Donald Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton remarks at fellow passengers on a flight from Atlanta to Allentown last week, the airline's chief executive Edward Bastian said. http://nyti.ms/2gdFjjY
- In one of the most sweeping and rare bipartisan acts of this Congress, lawmakers will move this week on a $6.3 billion bill to increase funding for research into cancer and other diseases, address problems in the nation's mental health systems and enact potentially far-reaching regulatory changes for drugs and medical devices. http://nyti.ms/2gdKFeO
- AT&T unveiled a streaming television service on Monday aimed at the millions of Americans who have broadband internet but no bundled TV package, offering an extensive list of channels for less than most cable plans. The service, DirecTV Now, includes many of the channels, including ESPN, TBS, AMC and the Disney Channel. Live television can be streamed to mobile devices, tablets, computers and living-room televisions. http://nyti.ms/2gdDtQc
- Samsung Electronics said it might restructure its vast operations as a way to unlock shareholder value. The family-controlled South Korean electronics giant said it would consider creating a holding company and listing its operations on international exchanges. Samsung will begin a review of its options that will take at least six months. http://nyti.ms/2gdEqIf
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz suggested that continued uncertainties surrounding Canada's economic outlook have set the bar high for an interest rate change, as the central bank approaches its deliberations for next week's rate decision. (https://tgam.ca/2gDGTbV)
** Canopy Growth Corp of Smiths Falls, Ontario, has an agreement to buy pharmaceutical distributor MedCann, which has placed the Canadian marijuana company's Tweed-branded cannabis strains in German pharmacies. (https://tgam.ca/2gDNCSY)
** The country's banking watchdog says lenders need to be more vigilant than ever as mortgage debt rises. (https://tgam.ca/2gDJbHI)
NATIONAL POST
** The Canadian Broadcasting Corp has submitted a proposal to the federal government requesting $318 million in additional funding in order to allow the public broadcaster to move to an ad-free model. (http://bit.ly/2gDCmGa)
** Mining companies are digging into renewable energy as a way to reduce costs and offset the impact of volatile conventional fuel prices as the world shifts to a low-carbon economy. (http://bit.ly/2gDNZNq)
Britain
The Times
* Investigators are looking into whether Tesco Bank ignored a warning about a security flaw in its payment system that allowed fraudsters to steal millions of pounds from the accounts of thousands of its customers. http://bit.ly/2fVnLWW
* Companies are to be forced to publish the difference in pay between their chief executives and average workers, Theresa May will announce this week. http://bit.ly/2gNZPJ5
The Guardian
* Drivers on Southern rail trains have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over the operation of train doors, Aslef union has said. http://bit.ly/2gzvYTW
* The Financial Reporting Council will investigate the accountancy firm Grant Thornton for signing off on an arrangement between Sports Direct International Plc, majority-owned by Mike Ashley, and a delivery company owned by his brother. http://bit.ly/2gO7ln4
The Telegraph
* Secret Brexit memo suggests Britain will not be offered single market membership. http://bit.ly/2gc4zXV
* BT Group Plc has appointed a former Ofcom director as the first chairman of its Openreach business in a bid to make the network division more independent and avoid being forced to spin it off. http://bit.ly/2gDl5y1
Sky News
* American aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co has been receiving subsidies from the U.S. state of Washington that are illegal under competition law, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled. http://bit.ly/2gDlpgc
* London Mayor Sadiq Khan has named a number of top tech executives to his panel of business advisers underlining the importance of the sector to the capital's economy. http://bit.ly/2gcDQuj
The Independent
* The UK should be "prudent" with its plans to raise the national living wage next year with growth expected to slow in the wake of the UK vote to leave the European Union, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://ind.pn/2gy1TnW
* An external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has become the latest central banker to push back against the widespread complaint that low interest rates have unduly penalised savers in recent years. http://ind.pn/2gbp5b1