- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras slammed European Union partners for criticizing an anti-poverty law before it was voted by the Greek parliament, deepening tensions with the EU. European Council President Donald Tusk called a meeting on Greece for Thursday evening at Tsipras' request on the sidelines of an EU summit with the leaders of Germany, France, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the chairman of euro zone finance ministers.
- China's government has called on local governments to tap their unused fiscal funds in order to boost growth. The Chinese government plans to run its biggest budget deficit in 2015 since the global financial crisis to support growth, as top leaders push reforms to improve fiscal discipline and deal with the root cause of local government debt.
- Japan's Sharp plans to cut 6,000 jobs, or 12% of its workforce, in a restructuring effort expected to cost more than $1.7 billion, according to various reports. Half of the cuts would come in Japan through early retirement while the rest would be overseas.
- Large banks like Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), UBS (UBS) and others face losses of tens of millions of dollars on loans they made last year to the energy sector, the Wall Street Journal reports. The banks intended to sell the loans to investors but have struggled to unload them even after cutting prices.
- Dutch electronics group Philips said it plans to spin off its lighting division in an IPO next year. In a circular to shareholders, Philips (PHG) said it would likely only sell a minority interest in the business at first, with the aim of a full divestment over time.
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