Morning Agenda: Italy’s Banks Pile On the Debt

Here is the latest Company News from The New York Times.

Morning Agenda: Italy’s Banks Pile On the Debt
Italian lenders have continued to lend to inert companies, racking up bad loans of over $400 billion.

Fight for Viacom Is Said to End With the Redstones in Control
A truce has been reached in the vicious corporate battle that pitted the 93-year-old mogul and his daughter against his longtime confidants and directors at Viacom.

Meet Marcus, Goldman Sachs’s Online Lender for the Masses
The company plans to introduce a retail banking operation called Marcus, which will offer small consumer loans, which Goldman has traditionally avoided.

Italian Banks Continue to Lend to Stagnant Companies as Debt Pile Mounts
Italy accounts for a third of the eurozone’s nonperforming loans. But that hasn’t stopped its banks from extending credit to loss-making companies.

Breakingviews: Uber Speeds Toward a Driverless Future, Putting Jobs in Danger
As Uber pushes ahead with autonomous taxis, and trucking considers going driverless, too, millions of Americans’ driving jobs are at risk.

Morning Agenda: No ‘Brexit’ Shock for Hedge Funds
Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent many fund managers scrambling, but a number of factors help explain how some avoided losses.

Your Money Adviser: More Big Banks Using Arbitration to Bar Customer Lawsuits
Customers say they want to keep the right to sue, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on such moves by banks.

Hedge Funds Avoided Big Losses Despite ‘Brexit’ Shock
Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent many fund managers scrambling, but managers cite a number of factors that help explain how some avoided losses.

2015 Law School Graduates Got Fewer Jobs in Private Practice
Last year’s graduates landed fewer jobs in private practice than any class in the last two decades, according to the National Association for Law Placement.

Policy Puzzle: The Fed Is Searching for a New Framework. New Minutes Show It Doesn’t Have One Yet.
Has something fundamental shifted? Amid uncertainty, the Fed affirmed the status quo.

Breakingviews: Intel Seems to Have a Stronger Hand Than Cisco Systems
The outlook for last-generation tech companies is often grim as their products become commonplace, rivals find alternatives and margins shrink.

Entrepreneurship: An Ecosystem Where Start-Ups Help Other Start-Ups
The founders of ContextMedia, a health care media company in Chicago, have helped other start-ups get through those perilous first years.

Morning Agenda: Univision Wins Gawker Auction
The Spanish-language network is said to have beat Ziff Davis with a $135 million bid, potentially heralding an end of an era for the fiercely-independent web company.

Ford Promises Fleets of Driverless Cars Within Five Years
The carmaker said it aimed to have self-driving cars available for ride-hailing services by 2021.

Bribery Arrest May Expose African Mining Rights Scandal Tied to Och-Ziff
F.B.I. agents in Brooklyn arrested Samuel Mebiame, a consultant for an Och-Ziff Capital Management Group venture, on charges he paid bribes to African officials.

Another View: Bankruptcy for Banks: A Sound Concept That Needs Fine-Tuning
A House bill would allow banks to be reorganized without hurting the economy, but it has several features that could make bailouts more likely.

Steven Cohen Barred From Commodities Trading Until 2018
The billionaire hedge-fund manager agreed in a settlement involving insider-trading charges not to engage in activities overseen by the C.T.F.C. through the end of next year.

Barclays, on a Selling Spree, Aims to Get Back to Basics
The bank is accelerating the sale of businesses it deems nonessential, hoping to return to growth — and higher dividends.

Breakingviews: ValueAct’s Bet on Morgan Stanley Bet Goes Only So Far
ValueAct Capital Management has invested $1 billion in Morgan Stanley, but an activist hoping to really shake up the bank would agitate for a breakup.

Former Goldman Sachs Trader Fined $400,000 and Barred for 2 Years
The Securities and Exchange Commission said the trader, Edwin Chin, misled customers into paying more for residential mortgage-backed bonds.

Deal Professor: Expect Little Antitrust Challenge to Walmart’s Bid for Jet.com
Regulators are stuck in an outdated view of the world, while the internet giants are more attuned to the threat of nascent competitors.

Who Might Buy Gawker Media? Here Are Some Possibilities
As the deadline for bids on the embattled company nears, three to five companies have emerged as the most likely suitors.

Op-Ed Contributor: Peter Thiel: The Online Privacy Debate Won’t End With Gawker
Journalists have nothing to fear from my campaign against the website.

Puerto Rican Who Attacked Capitol in 1954 Sees Anti-Colonialism Fight Resurface
To longtime nationalists, moves by the United States over the island’s $72 billion debt are yet more proof that colonialism is alive and well.

Linde Confirms Merger Talks With Its Rival Praxair
A deal would combine two of the world’s largest providers of industrial-gas products and create a giant with more than $30 billion in annual revenue.

The Olympics, Where Winning Gold Can Mean Losing Billions
Why do people want the Olympics in their home city? It could all be a poisoned chalice, and some people are floating unconventional solutions for future host cities.

Higher Fees Increase Law Firm Revenue by 4.1 Percent
Average revenue rose 4.1 percent in the first half of the year, according to Citi Private Bank’s quarterly report on the legal industry.

DealBook: An Olympic Event Where 1st Prize Is the Chance to Lose Billions
Delegations from four cities are quietly competing in Rio, lobbying to host the 2024 Summer Games — a privilege that could cost them dearly.

Bill Shine Steps Out From Behind the Scenes to Lead Fox News
Mr. Shine, a loyal right-hand man to Roger Ailes, was little known outside the TV industry before Mr. Ailes’s abrupt departure and his promotion.

Breakingviews: Lyft Declined G.M. Takeover Effort, but Rivals Could Force Its Hand
There are reasons for Lyft, the No. 2 American ride-hailing service, to steer clear of Detroit, but with pressure from cash-flush rivals like Uber, it may eventually run out of road.

In the U.S., VW Owners Get Cash. In Europe, They Get Plastic Tubes.
European owners of tainted Volkswagen diesels are being offered far less in restitution than American owners, but online legal start-ups are working to close the gap.

White Collar Watch: Blurred Lines in Pursuing Insider Trading Cases
There are no guidelines to distinguish between the cases that deserve criminal prosecution and the ones that receive only a civil proceeding.

Sale of Federal Mortgages to Investors Puts Greater Burden on Blacks, Suit Says
A federal lawsuit filed in New York claims that private investors who have taken ownership of federally insured mortgages are putting black homeowners at higher risk of foreclosure.

A Tech Mogul’s Fight to Keep Control of a Newspaper Empire
Michael W. Ferro Jr., who made himself chairman of Tribune Publishing and changed its name to Tronc, clashed with other investors over Gannett’s takeover bids.

Another View: The Risks of Unfettered Capitalism
When you hear complaints about too much regulation, don’t forget to ask what harm that regulation may prevent.

Morning Agenda: Millennials Are Wary of Debt
Credit card debt among Americans under 35 has fallen to its lowest level since 1989.

Mediator: Fox News Turmoil Recalls News Corp. Phone Hacking Scandal
There were warning signs before a sexual harassment case at Fox News, just as there were before the phone hacking that shook the Murdoch media empire.

Why Millennials Are in No Hurry to Take On Debt
Building a credit history holds less appeal for young Americans who had trouble paying off student loans and saw their families’ struggles during the financial crisis.

A Tech Mogul’s Fight to Keep Control of a Newspaper Empire
Michael W. Ferro Jr., who made himself chairman of Tribune Publishing and changed its name to Tronc, clashes with other investors over Gannett’s takeover bids.

With N.F.L. Deal, Twitter Live-Streams Its Ambitions
After the social network streams its first N.F.L. game on Sept. 15, it will assess whether live streaming can be a linchpin of its future.

How Producing Clean Power Turned Out to Be a Messy Business
NRG Energy has become a cautionary tale for power producers trying to figure out how to generate more electricity while curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Why Some Life Insurance Premiums Are Skyrocketing
Insurance companies are facing the problem of selling products in an era of near-zero interest rates, and they’re squeezing many policyholders.

Fair Game: A Simple Test to Dispel the Illusion Behind Stock Buybacks
Comparing a company’s growth in earnings per share, which can be raised by buying back stock, with its net profit growth can paint a more accurate picture of performance over time.

Cost, Not Choice, Is Top Concern of Health Insurance Customers
Millions of people looking for insurance in the federal marketplaces are more concerned with cost than with finding a favorite doctor or trusted company.

Breakingviews: Foot-Dragging on Volcker Rule Gives Banks’ Critics Ammunition
Wall Street banks are seeking until 2022 to offload investments banned by the rule, but the effort makes them appear to be trying to avoid oversight.

Strategies: The Billion-Dollar Jackpot: Engineered to Drain Your Wallet
Mind-boggling lottery prizes are no accident; they’re the result of skillful planning intended to lure players, who would almost always do better by investing that money.

Fox News Names 2 Insiders to Top Posts
Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, veterans of the organization, were named by Rupert Murdoch to help fill the void left by the ouster of Roger Ailes.

In Michigan, Hillary Clinton Calls Donald Trump Enemy of ‘the Little Guy’
Mrs. Clinton accused Mr. Trump of feigning support for working Americans, saying his tax proposals would “give trillions in tax breaks to people like himself.”

Common Sense: How Much Does Donald Trump Pay in Taxes? It Could Be Zero
Mr. Trump has not released his tax returns, but tax experts say it is possible and legal that he pays little or nothing in federal income tax.

Employees Sue Four More Universities Over Retirement Plan Fees
Duke, Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt are accused of costing their employees millions of dollars each year.

The 2016 Race: How Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Differ on Taxes
One major difference is that Mr. Trump would give the wealthy a big tax cut, and Mrs. Clinton would raise their taxes.

Wealth Matters: A Firm Sells Its Contrarian Investments With Field Trips
Bienville Capital takes would-be investors on tours to see prospective investments or talk with executives, so they can do their own evaluations.

Trillions in Murky Investments Could Rock China’s Economy
Long on promises and short on details, investments known as wealth management products have drawn a flood of money — and pose a big risk.

Envisioning Bitcoin’s Technology at the Heart of Global Finance
The World Economic Forum predicts that the blockchain concept introduced by the virtual currency could help banks offer cheaper, faster and more secure services.

Morning Agenda: Clinton Calls Trump the Enemy of the ‘Little Guy’
Hillary Clinton tried to contrast her own middle-class upbringing with Mr. Trump’s personal wealth

I.M.F. Lends $12 Billion to Egypt to Fix Ailing Economy
The International Monetary Fund agreed to grant Egypt the loan over three years to help stabilize its currency and reduce its budget deficit.

STX, Hollywood Start-Up Behind ‘Bad Moms,’ Gains Chinese Investors
The conglomerates Tencent and PCCW join existing investors in the Hollywood company known for midbudget films.

Alibaba Reports Growth, Even as China’s Economy Stumbles
For many American investors, Alibaba is seen as a proxy for the health of the Chinese economy and the strength of its consumers.

Google Fined for Breaking Russian Antitrust Rules With Android
The search giant’s mobile operating system was found to have unfairly favored digital services like Google Maps over those of Russian rivals.

Bill Miller, Famed Investor, Breaks Ties With Legg Mason
Mr. Miller was the Joe DiMaggio of mutual fund investors, achieving fame for beating the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index for 15 consecutive years.

Driven to Suicide by an ‘Inhuman and Unnatural’ Pressure to Sell
Ashish Awasthi, a 27-year-old salesman for Abbott India, killed himself because of pressure to meet targets, revealing what many call overly aggressive sales tactics by the drug maker.

Arianna Huffington Stepping Down as Huffington Post Editor in Chief
Ms. Huffington helped begin the media company, now owned by Verizon, in 2005 and will be focusing on her new venture, Thrive Global.

Macy’s, Struggling to Draw Shoppers, Plans to Close 100 Stores
Investors have been pressuring Macy’s to sell some of its real estate as the company has struggled to attract shoppers to its vast footprint of brick-and-mortar stores.

Morning Agenda: Abbott Pushes for Sales at Any Cost
Employees of Abbott in India said that managers had pressured them into unethical tactics in an effort to bump up sales.

Australia Rejects Bids From Chinese Investors for Electricity Provider
Treasurer Scott Morrison said that allowing a deal to go through with bidders from Hong Kong or the mainland would be “contrary to the national interest.”

Airbnb and Others Set Terms for Employees to Cash Out
As Silicon Valley start-ups have delayed initial public offerings or sales, they have come under pressure to let their employees sell some of their private stock.

Bill Maris Leaving as Chief of GV, Google’s Venture Finance Arm
David Krane, a managing partner at GV, will replace Mr. Maris, who founded GV in 2009.

Another View: Why It’s Not Enough Just to Be Disruptive
Novelty and technology alone won’t necessarily get you very far. Leading companies turn their tactical edge into durable advantage.

Greek Crisis, the Book. Or Actually Several of Them.
As the anniversary of Greece’s bailout deal approaches, memoirs and essays about that nation’s economic crisis abound.

Wealthy Donors Dangle a Huge Payday in Front of U.S. Wrestlers
A fraternity of well-heeled former wrestlers has endowed the sport with rich payouts for American medalists, like $250,000 for an Olympic gold.

Bridgewater Hedge Fund Settles Harassment Claim That Described a ‘Cauldron of Fear’
The claim filed by Christopher Tarui, who recently moved to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, brought attention to one of the more secretive firms in the $3 trillion hedge fund industry.

Breakingviews: ESPN Streaming Deal Helps Disney Step Into the Future
Disney’s investment in BamTech acknowledges that consumer habits are changing in a move that should strengthen and accelerate its streaming options.

Morning Agenda: Jefferies, Small and Emboldened
The investment bank took federal bailout money and is not hemmed in by the restrictions imposed on banks that did.

Mexico’s Richest Man Confronts a New Foe: The State That Helped Make Him Rich
Carlos Slim built a business empire that has made him one of the world’s richest men. But Mexico’s leaders have been chipping away at his domain with regulations.

Goodbye to ‘Honeys’ in Court, by Vote of American Bar Association
The American Bar Association revised its ethics rule to forbid lawyers from using demeaning or misogynistic terms or actions.

Breakingviews: In Buying LinkedIn, Microsoft Might Pay Heed to Monster
Monster Worldwide, a former competitor of LinkedIn, has been sold to Randstad Holding of the Netherlands for a fraction of its former value.

Disney Bets on Streaming, Joining With Major League Baseball
BamTech, which handles streaming for baseball teams and Time Warner’s HBO, will help Disney introduce an ESPN-branded subscription service.

Jefferies, Free of the Restraints of Bigger Banks, Is Emboldened
Jefferies has an appetite for risk and a set of relationships to rival bigger Wall Street firms.

M.I.T., N.Y.U. and Yale Are Sued Over Retirement Plan Fees
Employees contend that each university failed to monitor, and replace, expensive, poor-performing investment options in their retirement plans.

Street Scene: What Happened on Wall St. Ahead of the Crisis? We May Yet Find Out
Two recent court events — a request to review a verdict, and another lawsuit’s progress — preserve the possibility of comeuppance for Wall Street.

Think Tank Scholar or Corporate Consultant? It Depends on the Day
Acting as independent arbiters to shape government policy, many researchers also have corporate roles that are sometimes undisclosed.

Morning Agenda: Trump’s Economic Agenda and the Team Behind It
It’s tough to be seen as a successful billionaire businessman who is also an outsider trying to work for the little guy.

DealBook: Donald Trump’s Economic Team Is Far From Typical
The group he has assembled, mostly businessmen, is atypical in their relative lack of economic credentials.

Book Entry: Review: ‘Powerhouse’ Lifts Veil on Secretive Hollywood Agency
For a look inside Creative Artists Agency, the author has simply organized more than 700 pages of raw interviews in more or less chronological order.

Breakingviews: TIAA-EverBank Deal Offers a Lesson on Acquisitions
TIAA, the private pension fund, added a new wrinkle to bank deals when it acquired EverBank, largely an online bank, for $2.5 billion in cash.

Opinion: Dinner, Disrupted
Silicon Valley has brought its wrecking ball to haute cuisine, and the results are not pretty.

Donald Trump, Hoping to Change Subjects, Says He Will Bring Prosperity
Mr. Trump sought to move beyond a week of turmoil, turning his attention to the economy with a speech in which he cast himself as a president who could create new jobs.

States Vie to Shield the Wealth of the 1 Percent
Nevada, Delaware and other states compete to offer ways for the rich to fend off creditors, divorcing spouses and even tax collectors.

White Collar Watch: Goldman Sachs’s Fight to Avoid Paying Employees’ Legal Fees
Two cases involving the Wall Street bank illustrate how a corporation can turn its back on an employee when it sees itself as the victim of wrongdoing.

Barclays Agrees to Settle Libor-Rigging Inquiry for $100 Million
The British bank has settled with 44 states over claims of manipulation of Libor, a key interest rate that is used to set prices in many consumer contracts.

Walmart Reaches Deal to Buy Jet.com for $3.3 Billion
The acquisition is intended to help both companies compete with Amazon.com, the No. 1 e-commerce giant.

Researchers or Corporate Allies? Think Tanks Blur the Line
Think tanks are seen as independent, but their scholars often push donors’ agendas, amplifying a culture of corporate influence in Washington.

The Week Ahead: Colorado Fracking Limit Deadline; Valeant and Disney Earnings Reports
Signatures are due Monday to put proposals on Colorado’s ballot that would restrict hydraulic fracturing; and attention turns to earnings at Valeant, Disney and Macy’s.

Morning Agenda: Think Tanks Become Vehicles for Corporate Influence
They are regarded as research centers independent of moneyed interest, but think tanks have to chase funds, too.

Video Software Maker Kaltura Raises $50 Million From Goldman
The company, whose software helps users like HBO, MetLife and Yale University stream directly to consumers, is expected to pursue a public offering.

Steinhoff of South Africa to Buy U.S. Retailer Mattress Firm
The $3.8 billion deal, expected to close in the third quarter, would create the world’s largest mattress retail distribution company.

Strategies: When Every Company Is a Tech Company, Does the Label Matter?
Technology is now so pervasive in business that it might be time to call G.E. and Johnson & Johnson tech stocks, not just the Silicon Valley stars.

Economic Trends: We’re in a Low-Growth World. How Did We Get Here?
Economic growth in advanced nations has been weaker for longer than it has been in the lifetime of most people on earth.

A Surreal Life on the Precipice in Puerto Rico
Swimming pools pop up in slums, horses graze in schoolhouses, and public housing tenants pay negative rent on an island whose government has effectively gone broke.

How Dell Raised $67 Billion for the Biggest Tech Deal Ever
It took months of complicated financial maneuvering at a tumultuous time in the markets to raise money for the industry’s largest takeover ever.