Shell Will Buy BG Group for $70 Billion in Cash and Shares (BBG) IMF warns of long period of lower growth (FT) Wall Street sanguine as it heads into worst earnings season in six years (Reuters) Switzerland First With 10-Year Bond at Negative Yield (WSJ) U.S. Dot-Com Bubble Was Nothing Compared to Today’s China Prices (BBG) Rahm Emanuel Re-Elected as Mayor of Fiscally Ravaged Chicago (BBG) Oil falls on U.S. stock build, record Saudi output (Reuters) White South Carolina policeman charged with murdering black man (Reuters) German Factory Orders Drop for Second Month (BBG) A third of Republicans support Iran nuclear deal (Reuters) Gross Regains Footing With Bet Dollar's Rally Won’t Last (BBG) Repo Market Sees a Lending Shift as Rules Bite (WSJ) As reported here a month ago: The Great American Invasion Into Europe’s Debt Market Has Begun (BBG) JPMorgan Algorithm Knows You’re a Rogue Employee Before You Do (BBG) Desperate from Drought, California Turns to Desalination (BBG) Ex-Goldman Banker Seen Refusing Rape Jury to Avoid Hamptons Bias (BBG) Overnight Media Digest WSJ * Petroleum giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc is in advanced talks to acquire Britain's BG Group Plc, in a deal that would likely be valued at upwards of $50 billion. (http://on.wsj.com/1DIlOXB) * A white police officer who shot a black man in North Charleston, South Carolina, was charged with murder after law enforcement reviewed a video taken by a bystander. (http://on.wsj.com/1GJrMGO) * FedEx Corp said it would buy Dutch parcel-delivery firm TNT Express for about $4.8 billion, making an end run around rival United Parcel Service Inc and positioning itself to capitalize on the growth of e-commerce in Europe. (http://on.wsj.com/1ajgJHH) * Investors and small firms are entering the $2.6 trillion U.S. repo market, taking advantage of banks' retreat from a key corner of the credit markets. (http://on.wsj.com/1CvRHvq) * Hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass's patent challenge against Jazz Pharmaceuticals illustrates a new strategy of challenging U.S. drug patents while shorting shares of the holder and wagering on potential winners.(http://on.wsj.com/1y2WVDs) * The chairman of an insurance regulatory task force is calling for changes to better protect consumers from agents who sell financial products despite being barred from the securities industry.(http://on.wsj.com/1a3NB70) * Japan's SoftBank Corp is downsizing its presence in U.S. tech enclave Silicon Valley after subsidiary Sprint Corp's failed bid last year to acquire T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier. A SoftBank spokesman said Wednesday that the company had subleased both of the four-story office buildings it had leased in San Carlos, California in 2013, where around 100 employees had been stationed until last year. (http://on.wsj.com/1FejYOg) * Canada's Manulife Financial Corp is near a multiyear deal worth well more than $1 billion to win the right to sell its insurance products through Singaporean lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd's branch network across Asia, according to a person familiar with the situation. (http://on.wsj.com/1DIlOXB)vv FT Oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC is in talks to buy gas-producing rival BG Group PLC for about 46 billion pounds ($68.16 billion), in a deal that could give the Anglo-Dutch company access to some of the most exciting oil regions and cement its position in the global trade of natural gas. FedEx has struck a deal to buy its struggling rival TNT Express that values the latter at 4 billion euros ($4.33 billion). The transaction would allow FedEx to expand into Europe where it has struggled against competitors DHL and UPS. French company Vivendi has entered into exclusive discussions with Orange to buy 80 percent of video-sharing website Dailymotion for 217 million euros. In the largest leveraged buyout of the year, Canada's largest pension fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and European private equity group Permira have teamed up to buy Informatica, a U.S.-based software and services group for $48.75 per share, valuing the company at $5.3 billion. NYT * An Energy Department forecast says that drivers this summer will pay the lowest prices since 2009, even though oil prices have stabilized. (http://nyti.ms/1ClSIpT) * The British oil and gas producer BG Group Plc said on Tuesday that it was in advanced discussions with Royal Dutch Shell Plc over a potential sale. A deal could top $50 billion. BG Group added that there could be no certainty that an offer would ultimately be made by Shell. (http://nyti.ms/1IIdzZq) * Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to the Justice Department and the Treasury asking for details relating to the United States government's 2012 decision to divert all of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's earnings to the Treasury rather than let them repay taxpayers under the original bailout agreement. (http://nyti.ms/1Didsnn) * Judge Jed Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan has been a bit of a thorn in the side of the Securities and Exchange Commission. But his decision on Monday to allow the SEC to pursue insider trading charges in light of the recent appeals court opinion in United States v. Newman gives the agency some indication that cases will not be hamstrung by the decision's tighter requirements for proving a violation. (http://nyti.ms/1Didsnn) * The French conglomerate Vivendi SA is trying to revamp the fortunes of Dailymotion, a video-sharing website that has long struggled to live up to its early promise as the next YouTube. Vivendi on Tuesday entered exclusive talks to buy an 80 percent stake in Dailymotion for about 217 million euros, or about $235 million, from the French telecommunications giant Orange SA. (http://nyti.ms/1HONvf8) Canada THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** Former CBC weather forecaster Claire Martin, a familiar face across Canada for years on the National, will enter federal politics on Wednesday as she launches a campaign to win a British Columbia seat for the Green Party of Canada.(http://bit.ly/1y3GhUe) ** Toronto is creating a "big data" traffic team as the city tries to manage congestion better by learning what is actually happening on its streets.(http://bit.ly/1y3Inn7) NATIONAL POST ** A Pakistani man being held at an Ontario prison for allegedly plotting to bomb the U.S. consulate in Toronto has asked his country's diplomatic mission to help bail him out and return him to his home country.(http://bit.ly/1a4Msw1) ** Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver will announce legislation on Wednesday committing the government - or any future government - to keeping a balanced budget, except under "extraordinary circumstances." The only "acceptable deficit", a government source said Tuesday, would be in the event of a recession or during a war or natural disaster with costs exceeding C$3 billion ($2.42 billion) in a fiscal year.(http://bit.ly/1a4MKCT) ** RBC Capital Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada, has hired a new leader for its business in France. Eric Meyer will take the title of managing director, head of France, and will report to Josh Critchley, RBC's head of European investment banking.(http://bit.ly/1a4NacC) Britain The Times WE'LL PUT WORKER ON PAY COMMITTEES, LABOUR SAYS Labour would force listed companies to appoint employee representatives to remuneration committees in an attempt to "increase accountability and fairness" and curtail excessive boardroom pay. (http://thetim.es/1DHPRPf) ECONOMY PUT ON FAST TRACK BY THRIVING SERVICES SECTOR The dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in seven months in March, a closely watched survey reported yesterday. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector jumped to 58.9 last month from 56.7 in February(http://thetim.es/1E1Uz8R) The Guardian MORE THAN 140 TOP DOCTORS ATTACK GOVERNMENT RECORD ON NHS Leading doctors in the NHS have accused the coalition government of a catalogue of broken promises, funding cuts and destructive legislation which has left the health service weaker than ever before. (http://bit.ly/1IoyJ20) TOP UK BUSINESS LEADERS BACK TONY BLAIR'S WARNING OVER POSSIBLE EU EXIT A business group backed by the bosses of some of Britain's biggest companies has thrown its weight behind Tony Blair's warning about the effects of a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union. (http://bit.ly/1Gm2orS) The Telegraph SHELL IN TALKS TO BUY ENERGY RIVAL BG GROUP Royal Dutch Shell is in advanced talks to buy BG Group in what would be one of the biggest deals of the year. (http://bit.ly/1N5oxyG) MARKETS SPOOKED BY THREAT OF LABOUR-SNP COALITION, ECONOMISTS WARN The prospect of a coalition being formed between Labour and the Scottish National Party after May's election has frightened financial markets, economists have warned. Worries that a deal could be struck between Ed Miliband and Nicola Sturgeon have suppressed the pound and British markets, reflecting concerns that they may undo much of the Coalition's progress, according to Panmure Gordon. (http://bit.ly/1ybKFkg) Sky News LABOUR WOULD ABOLISH 'NON-DOM' TAX STATUS Labour leader Ed Miliband is to say he will abolish "non-domiciled" status if he wins the General Election. (http://bit.ly/1CkRc7z) ROYAL MAIL TO DELIVER PAY RISE TO CEO GREENE The board of Royal Mail is drawing up secret plans to hand an inflation-busting pay rise to Moya Greene, its chief executive, just weeks after next month's General Election. (http://bit.ly/1Gm0Pdv) The Independent IMF FEARS "SECULAR STAGNATION" FOR GLOBAL ECONOMY The International Monetary Fund is coming round to the idea that the world is in the grip of an economic "secular stagnation", meaning the living standards of future generations will be lower than previously expected and national debt burdens will be harder to reduce. (http://ind.pn/1GIMyGx)