Dubai World, the conglomerate at the centre of the emirate’s debt crisis, has the means to make its first big repayment on time next year and expects to pay off more of its debt ahead of schedule, a top executive said. Mohammed al-Shaibani, chief executive of sovereign wealth fund Investment Corp of Dubai and a key figure in negotiating the emirate’s debt restructurings in recent years, said […]
Swiss and British regulators stepped up their scrutiny of alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets on Monday, as watchdogs take a closer look at whether banks have a tight enough grip on the behavior of their traders. Switzerland’s competition commission WEKO said it opened an investigation into several Swiss, British and U.S. banks over potential collusion to manipulate currency rates. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), meanwhile, […]
Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is at the center of China’s biggest corruption scandal in more than six decades, two sources said. More than 300 of Zhou’s relatives, political allies, proteges and staff have also been taken into custody or questioned in the past four months, […]
Qatar’s financial regulator has reprimanded Royal Bank of Scotland for insufficient training of its branch staff, it said on Tuesday. “Although RBS QFC had a programme in place, it was deficient in a number of material respects and it fell short of the standards expected of authorised firms,” the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFC RA) said in a statement. “The QFC has accepted an enforceable undertaking […]
When a scrap metal dealer from U.S. Midwest bought a golden ornament at a junk market, it never crossed his mind that he was the owner of a $20 million Faberge egg hailing from the court of imperial Russia. In a mystery fit for the tumultuous history of Russia’s ostentatious elite, the 8-cm (3-inch) golden egg was spirited out of St Petersburg after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution […]
Google Inc has settled a landmark copyright lawsuit in which Viacom Inc accused the Internet search company of posting its programs on the YouTube video service without permission. The settlement ends seven years of litigation that drew wide attention from Hollywood, the music industry and Internet companies, and which tested the reach of a federal law designed to thwart piracy while letting people find entertainment online. “This […]
Growing tension between the West and Russia ahead of Ukraine’s weekend referendum in Crimea pushed down stocks on major world markets on Friday and drove up buying of safe-haven gold and the yen. Financial markets watched nervously as the West increasingly talked about sanctions and Russia hit back with promises of retaliatory measures and displays of military prowess. The vote being held on Sunday by pro-Moscow authorities […]
Congress’s investigation of a deadly defect in some General Motors cars widened on Tuesday, and a House committee ordered the automaker and a federal regulator to provide details on steps they took to get unsafe cars off the road. In another development, federal prosecutors in New York are examining whether GM is criminally liable for failing to properly disclose the defect, according to a source familiar with […]
The use of stolen passports by two passengers to board a Malaysian airliner that vanished over the South China Sea raises concerns that terrorists may have caused the jet’s apparent crash, say former U.S. security officials who specialize in transportation safety. Use of stolen passports is a tactic of terrorists trying to avoid detection, while groups including al-Qaeda have sought to crash airplanes into oceans to cover […]
Gold gained more than 1 percent on Monday on escalating geopolitical tensions as Ukraine mobilised for war after Russia bloodlessly seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. The Group of Seven major industrialised nations condemned Russia’s intrusion into Ukraine and cancelled preparations for the G8 summit, that includes Russia, scheduled for Sochi in June, the White House said. Cash and U.S. […]
A Saudi English-language daily has become the country’s first newspaper with a female editor-in-chief after the Saudi Gazette this week appointed Somayya Jabarti to succeed veteran journalist Khaled Almaeena for the top post. “I was pleasantly surprised,” she told the Wall Street Journal over the phone, “because I did not think we as a country were ready for a female editor. But I believe this is a […]
Asian stocks dropped after the regional benchmark index climbed for a sixth day yesterday to cap its longest run of advances this year. Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. slid 4.5 percent in Tokyo after Japan’s second-largest beermaker’s net-income forecast missed estimates. Tokyo Tatemono Co. plunged 8.3 percent after the developer predicted full-year operating profit below analyst expectations. Qantas Airways Ltd. jumped 6.3 percent after the Sydney Morning Herald […]
The U.S. trade representative on Monday will announce a trade enforcement action tied to India, his office said, a move that could further rile relations after an incident last year involving the arrest and strip-search of an Indian consul. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will discuss the action at a news conference at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), his office said on Sunday night. The Office of the […]
Air carriers flying to Winter Olympics host Russia were warned today to watch for toothpaste tubes containing materials that could be turned into a bomb, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The official declined to elaborate on the intelligence that sparked the warning, which was sent to U.S. and foreign airlines, just two days before the start of the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. Security at Sochi […]
Lower-than-expected holiday iPhone sales and a weak revenue forecast by Apple Inc renewed fears about Chinese demand and a tepid global market, wiping 8 percent off company stock. This year was to have been Apple Inc’s watershed moment in China, when a long-awaited deal with the nation’s largest carrier was to have propelled it back toward the top ranks of its most crucial market, clawing back ground […]
The rupee hits 62.90 in early trade, its lowest level since November 22, as Asian stocks trading with heavy losses. The pair last trading at 62.77/78 vs Friday’s close of 62.66/67. Dealers will closely watch for RBI intervention at current levels after the RBI was suspected to have sold dollars in late session on Friday. The RBI to decide on rates on Tuesday. While the consensus still […]
A leading rights watchdog said a Dubai news conference Thursday on human rights issues in the United Arab Emirates was abruptly cancelled, a move it alleges underscores threats to freedom of expression in the Gulf nation, AP reported. Human Rights Watch said it was told Wednesday by the Novotel hotel, where the event was due to take place, that the conference was being called off because a […]
Asian markets sprang higher on Tuesday as Japanese stocks rebounded and Chinese money rates eased, while the U.S. dollar got a fillip from a report the Federal Reserve would again trim its bond buying next week. A drop in the yen helped Tokyo’s Nikkei rally 1.5 percent and dragged up markets from Seoul to Singapore. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS swung round to […]
A deal between Iran and six major powers intended to pave the way to a solution to a long standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will come into force on January 20, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the European Union said on Sunday. Shortly after the interim accord takes effect, an Iranian official added, Tehran and world powers will start negotiating a final settlement of their differences about […]
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index touched a four-month high as signs of improvement in the labor market support expectations the U.S. economy will be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to end bond purchases this year. The dollar remained higher versus most major peers before government data today forecast show initial claims for unemployment benefits fell. A report tomorrow may say U.S. employers continued to add positions […]
Negotiations between Iran and six world powers on implementing a landmark November deal to freeze parts of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing some sanctions have run into problems over advanced centrifuge research, diplomats said. The dispute over centrifuges highlighted the huge challenges facing Iran and the six powers in negotiating the precise terms of the November 24 interim agreement. If they succeed, they plan to […]
Italian carmaker Fiat SpA struck a $4.35 billion deal to gain full control of Chrysler Group LLC, ending more than a year of tense talks that have obstructed Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne’s efforts to combine the two automakers’ resources. The agreement, announced on Wednesday, cements Marchionne’s reputation as the industry’s consummate dealmaker about a decade after he took the helm of Fiat as a car business newcomer, […]
Luxury brands are stepping up the battle for travelling shoppers with more outlets at airports and on cruise ships, tapping into one of the fastest growing sections of the market that looks set to keep booming thanks to soaring numbers of Asian tourists. Revenues from travel retail, which also includes sales on airplanes, rose 9.4 percent in 2012 to $55.8 billion, according to a market study by […]
A bipartisan budget deal announced in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, though modest in its spending cuts, would end three years of impasse and fiscal instability in Washington that culminated in October with a partial government shutdown. While praised by the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the agreement faces a challenge from some House conservatives […]
