Federal investigators are looking at whether the $81 million stolen from a Bangladesh central bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last year has links to North Korea. This is due to similarities in the code used in the online heist and in an earlier breach of Sony Pictures, according to two insiders quoted by Bloomberg and who asked to remain unidentified since the […]
Chu Jeong Woo and his tour group from South Korea were supposed to visit Britain’s Houses of Parliament on Thursday. But with the area cordoned off, they had to settle for selfies with the symbol of British democracy — and the scene of Wednesday’s lethal terror attack — as a backdrop. “Change in plans,” Mr Chu, a student, explained as many in his group snapped pictures of […]
US stock funds suffered their largest redemptions since the Brexit vote in June as Donald Trump’s push to reform healthcare floundered ahead of an expected vote in Congress in the biggest test yet of his young presidency. The quarrel among Republicans over the politically charged healthcare legislation has increased market volatility and flamed investor fears that the US president may struggle to pass tax reforms later this […]
By Marco Aquino | CARAPONGO, Peru CARAPONGO, Peru Between rows of plastic tents on the outskirts of Lima, Martha Llanos takes her ration of rice and chicken alongside thousands of others who have been forced from their homes by the worst flooding to hit Peru in decades. The 43-year-old mother of three said she was less worried about the loss of her makeshift home in the destitute […]
The pound turned in the best performance among major currencies on Thursday, gearing up for next week’s Article 50 activation by rallying to its highest level for a month following buoyant retail data. Having momentarily regained the $1.25 level on Wednesday, sterling climbed a third of a per cent against the dollar after a 3.7 per cent rise in February retail sales, well above analysts’ forecasts. Sterling […]
DHAKA A fire that broke out in Bangladesh’s central bank on Thursday night on floors 13 and 14 of the 32-story building has been brought under control. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. “Twelve units of the fire fighting department controlled (the fire) after several hours of efforts,” a fire department official said. “Those floors are very important as those floors deal with foreign […]
Investors rushed to participate in Volkswagen’s return to European bond markets on Thursday, with the German carmaker’s first benchmark issue following the emissions scandal attracting huge demand. The €8bn euro-denominated bond attracted €24bn of orders by late afternoon, when books were closed ahead of final pricing. Bankers said the deal was launched with a spread 15 basis points tighter than initial indications. “There was a lot of […]
The irony of revelations from the Global Laundromat scandal landing almost exactly a year on from the Panama Paper leaks is not lost on many readers. Clearly the lip-service to greater transparency that followed the financial leak has come to nought. The Laundromat scandal has exposed billions of dollars being moved out of Russia through anonymously owned UK companies and Britain’s high street banks. Anonymous companies – the […]
Dubai, 22nd March 2017 After analyzing information on more than 31 million Wi-Fi hotspots around the world, Kaspersky Lab has found that every fourth (28%) is unsecured and poses a risk to users’ personal data. That means all the traffic transmitted over those networks, including personal messages, passwords, documents and much more, can be easily intercepted and used by attackers. According to Kaspersky Security Network[1], 25% of […]
One of the brightest lights in local journalism suffered a setback late last year when Raleigh Agenda, the sister site of Charlotte Agenda, closed its doors after failing to find a sustainable business model. But the closure of the site didn’t prevent the parent company from banking a comfortable profit in 2016, said Ted Williams, Charlotte Agenda’s cofounder and publisher. The company brought in about $875,000 in […]
When Flavio Evers Cassou, an employee of the world’s biggest meatpacker, JBS, dropped off a large cooler of meat at a friend’s home last year in southern Brazil, he could not have foreseen the crisis of confidence it would cause in the industry and the country’s wider corporate sector. The friend in question happened to be Maria do Rocio Nascimento, the chief inspector of products of animal […]
BlackRock and Pimco are refusing to take part in the first bond sale by a Portuguese bank in more than a year, because of a legal battle with the country’s central bank over losses sustained in 2015. Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the state-owned Portuguese bank, is this week courting investors in London and Paris, as it seeks to sell a €500m subordinated bond, in what would be […]
Predicting and acting upon financial fraud is one of the prime areas of application of advanced big data techniques like machine learning (ML). Earlier this week, a case of money laundering known as the Laundromat was uncovered by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) involving a number of global banks active in the UK. Could ML help prevent such incidents? What progress is there on […]
The optimistic but eerie calm that had settled over the US stock market since the US election ended abruptly this week, as the longest streak of trading days without a 1 per cent decline in more than two decades finally snapped. Equities clawed back some of their losses on Wednesday but investors remain on edge. The post-election stock market rally has been largely powered by hopes the […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices recovered on Thursday from losses chalked up the session before, but the market remained under pressure as bloated U.S. crude inventories and rising output dampen OPEC-led efforts to curb global production. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were at $50.82 per barrel at 0807 GMT, up 18 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. That came […]
Newfound volatility and jitters ahead of a key healthcare vote in Washington have sapped enthusiasm for corporate bonds, forcing several companies to pay up to borrow through debt capital markets and sending others to the sidelines to await market calm. Goldman Sachs and Santander were forced to offer more attractive new issue premiums to draw investors amid the subdued market conditions, as several recent bond offerings sold […]
By Nick Kounis of ABN Amro Euro Rates Watch – Will the TLTRO spark carry trades? The last of the ECB’s TLTRO-II operations is expected to have a big take up, with the market expecting EUR 125bn, and some forecasts as high as EUR 300bn From a rates perspective, what matters is whether these funds will trigger flows into the bond or swap markets as banks set […]
The New South Wales government has announced the appointment of Dr Maria Milosavljevic as the state’s inaugural government chief information security officer (GCISO). Milosavljevic will leave her current role as the chief innovation officer and chief information security officer at AUSTRAC — Australia’s financial intelligence agency — to take up the new gig with the NSW government, where she will work with industry, all levels of government, […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks, taking some cues from a steady Wall Street, edged up on Thursday while the path for the dollar, which crawled up from a four-month low, remained clouded by concerns about the prospects for U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-growth agenda. Sterling GBP=D3 was steady at $1.2483 following a decline of as much as 0.4 percent on Wednesday, after an attack […]
March 23, 2017 by: Peter Wells in Hong Kong Thursday 02.15 GMT Overview Asian markets were in a more subdued mood and making a tentative recovery from a midweek sell-off in which many global stock markets suffered their worst session since the US presidential election. A terror attack in London on Wednesday also kept investors in a cautious mood. Hot topic A jolt to global financial markets […]
New Zealand telecommunications carrier TeamTalk has urged its shareholders to reject the “predatory” and “exploitative” takeover by mobile carrier Spark, obtaining an independent assessment to demonstrate that the acquisition undervalues the company’s value to the tune of around NZ$22.8 million to NZ$39.6 million. “Your directors recommend that you reject the Spark offer,” TeamTalk headed its latest missive to shareholders. “The independent adviser’s value range for TeamTalk’s three […]
In the wake of the terror attacks in England, France, Germany and elsewhere, can we finally admit that the war on terror is an utter and complete failure? 10 Ways to Reduce Terrorism So if the war on terror has failed, what should we do to stop terrorists? I. Stop Overthrowing the Moderates and Arming Crazies We know it’s a difficult concept to grasp, but if we […]
Britain’s Houses of Parliament came under attack on Wednesday from a knife-wielding assailant who ploughed a vehicle through throngs of people on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing a police officer. In the largest-scale terrorist incident in London since suicide bombers killed 52 people in July 2005, at least five people died, including the attacker. A further 40 were injured, according to police. The attack paralysed the heart […]
The euro came close to its highest level against the dollar in almost four months on Wednesday, as investors waited nervously ahead of Donald Trump’s first key legislative test over the repeal of Obamacare. This week the euro has gained 0.8 per cent against the US currency, taking its rise this month to 2.6 per cent and leaving it worth $1.0825 late on Wednesday. Euro strength is, […]
