Tuesday newspaper round-up: Soros, Brexit, ECB, disposable income

The world’s most famous currency speculator has warned that a vote on Thursday for Britain to leave the EU would trigger a bigger and more damaging fall for sterling than the day he forced Britain out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism almost a quarter of a century ago. George Soros, writing in the Guardian, said a Brexit vote would spark a ‘black Friday’ for the UK, but the devaluation of sterling would bring none of the benefits to the economy that it enjoyed after it dropped out of the ERM on 16 September 1992 – Black Wednesday. - Guardian

The European Union referendum will “come down to the wire” following a surge of support among those certain to back Remain in the final days of the campaign, David Cameron’s election strategist Lynton Crosby says. His comments come in an analysis of a poll for this newspaper which shows that amongst definite voters, the Prime Minister’s Remain campaign now has a 7-point lead, with 53 per cent of the vote compared to Leave’s 46 per cent. - Telegraph

National leaders and media across Europe mobilised on Monday to persuade British voters to remain in the EU, with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban buying a full-page ad in Monday’s Daily Mail urging Britons to choose “Remain”. The advertisement tells voters the decision is theirs, adding: “But I would like you to know that Hungary is proud to stand with you as a member of the European Union.” - Financial Times

Hedge funds are shying away from big bets on Brexit, with many unwilling to risk further losses having already suffered a painful first half of the year. With the outcome of a UK vote on the country’s membership of the European Union still looking uncertain, many large hedge funds have opted to reduce their overall market exposure rather than attempt to predict a result. - Financial Times

The supermarket price war and the national living wage have helped average weekly disposable income to rise to a record £201 a week per household, according to research from Asda. Britons had £13 more to spend each week in May than at the same time last year, according to Asda’s Income Tracker, which has been monitoring household spending since 2008. The 7.2 per cent increase was the highest rate of growth since November last year, while the £201 figure was the highest recorded by the tracker. - The Times

Germany’s highest court will on Tuesday make a landmark judgment on one of the European Central Bank’s most important — and most controversial — weapons to fight financial crises. The German Constitutional Court decision at 10am local time on the legality of the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions programme has been four years in the making. - Financial Times

HSBC has launched Britain’s first fixed-rate mortgage with an interest rate below 1%, as competition among lenders hots up and the cost of borrowing for banks and building societies falls to new lows. The bank is offering customers the chance to lock in for two years at an interest rate of 0.99%, but they need a deposit of at least 35% and will pay a product fee of £1,499. - Guardian

Oi SA filed for Brazil's largest ever bankruptcy protection on Monday after the country's No. 1 fixed-line phone carrier ran out of time to reorganize operations and restructure 65.4 billion reais ($19.3 billion) of debt amid a harsh recession.
The petition for bankruptcy protection from Oi, Brazil's fourth-biggest mobile provider, and six subsidiaries came after talks with creditors ground to a halt earlier this month ahead of a July debt payment.

Dominic Chappell, the thrice-bankrupt former racing driver who bought BHS, has been accused of repeatedly misleading MPs by other witnesses to the parliamentary panel examining the collapse of the department store group. Chris Martin, chairman of the BHS pension scheme, said that comments made to the cross-party select committee by Mr Chappell on June 8 were “incorrect and untrue”. Lesley Titcomb, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator accused Mr Chappell of making incorrect assertions. David Taylor, general counsel for the Pension Protection Fund, also contradicted one claim by Mr Chappell. - The Times

Morrisons has been forced to repay cash and discipline staff after it was found to have breached the grocery market code of conduct for a second time by demanding lump sums of about £2m from suppliers. The grocery market watchdog said Morrisons admitted to making 19 requests which were above and beyond agreed deals with suppliers in contravention of an industry code in place since 2009. - Guardian

India’s bid to become the ‘economic super-tiger’ of Asia is in serious doubt after an assault on the independence of the central bank and failure to deliver on promised reforms. The country has been the darling of the emerging market universe since the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi swept into power in May 2014 promising a blitz of Thatcherite reform and a bonfire of the diktats, but key changes have been blocked in the legislature. The government has turned increasingly populist. - Telegraph

Criminals who trade in stolen personal data should face jail sentences of up to two years, MPs have said in a stark warning over the vulnerability of the Britain’s biggest companies to cyber attacks. Chief executive who fail to prevent cyber security breaches should meanwhile have a portion of their pay docked, the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee added as it published the results on an inquiry into the cyber attack that plunged the broadband operator TalkTalk into crisis last year. - Telegraph

A federal judge said two Starbucks customers may pursue a lawsuit accusing the coffee chain of cheating patrons by underfilling lattes. In a decision on Friday, US district judge Thelton Henderson in San Francisco said the California plaintiffs may seek damages for fraud and false advertising from Starbucks Corp in their proposed nationwide class action. - Guardian