Asia shares were slightly down in Tuesday trading after the Moody's downgrade of Spanish banks and the news that Cyprus had requested a bailout, reports Bloomberg. A proposal to move Europe closer to a fiscal union by giving more powers to Brussels will be discussed at this week's EU summit. According to the Financial Times, which viewed a draft repor, the EU would gain "far-reaching powers to rewrite national budgets for eurozone countries that breach debt and deficit rules." News Corporation is mulling the possibility of splitting into two companies, reports the WSJ. The move would "carve off News Corp."s film and television businesses, including 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel from its newspapers, book publishing assets and education businesses." Nine of the biggest banks have been asked to submit their living wills - plans for how to resolve them in case of bankruptcy - to the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission by July 1, reports the Wall Street Journal. The living wills are a requirement of Dodd-Frank. Sheryl Sandberg has joined Facebook's board of directors. The company has recently come under pressure to diversify its board from investors and others, writes the Financial Times. Moody's downgraded 28 Spanish banks after the close of trading on Monday, citing their exposure to the sovereign and the possibility that commercial real estate losses will worsen. Writes Bloomberg: "The ratings company downgraded six banks by four levels and 10 by three grades with the rest getting one- and two-tier declines." Cyprus has formally requested a bailout following its recent downgrade by Fitch to junk status and an increasingly urgent need to recapitalise its banks, writes the FT. Financial crises have an odd tendency to happen in September. Free Exchange What you need to know from SocGen's new report on Europe's investment banks. (eFinancialCareers) A penitent comedian offers a lesson to bankers. An argument that price stability could be immoral. Interfluidity In the US, the generation gap is back. Asian markets Nikkei 225 down -92.68 (-1.06%) at 8,642 Topix down -7.41 (-0.99%) at 737.81 Hang Seng down -1.00 (-0.01%) at 18,896 US markets S&P 500 down -21.30 (-1.60%) at 1,314 DJIA down -138.12 (-1.09%) at 12,503 European markets Eurofirst 300 down -15.48 (-1.55%) at 986.41 FTSE100 down -63.04 (-1.14%) at 5,451 CAC 40 down -69.26 (-2.24%) at 3,022 Dax down -130.86 (-2.09%) at 6,132 Currencies €/$ 1.25 (1.25) $/¥ 79.50 (79.62) £/$ 1.56 (1.56) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.13 at 90.88 Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.33 at 78.88 100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,588 Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 331.40 10-year government bond yields (%) US 1.60 UK 1.67 Germany 1.47 CDS (closing levels) Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +2.91bps at 297.52bp Markit iTraxx Europe +7.99bps at 177.18bp Markit iTraxx Xover +25.52bps at 703.13bp Markit CDX IG +3.93bps at 119.35bp This entry was posted by Cardiff Garcia on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 at 5:49 and is filed under Uncategorised.