Barclays pays in trade case August 18, 2010 BARCLAYS last night struck a $298m (£192m) deal with US authorities over charges it violated trade sanctions. The shock announcement came just 24 hours after the judge who endorsed the settlement branded it a “sweetheart deal” which the government should be concerned about. The banking giant was in the dock over allegations it broke the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EVERBRIGHT BANK PRICES IPO AT TOP OF RANGE China Everbright Bank, the last of China’s big national lenders to sell shares to the public, is set to raise up to Rmb21.7bn in its initial public offering after pricing its shares at the top end of an indicative range. The country’s 11th-largest bank will [...]
Row fuels fears of currency war September 16, 2010 THERE were growing fears of a global trade war last night after the world’s largest countries clashed over currency policies aimed at protecting their own faltering economic recoveries at the expense of others. In his strongest words yet on America’s long-running dispute with China over the value of its currency, US treasury secretary Tim Geithner [...]
Row fuels fears of currency war September 16, 2010 THERE were growing fears of a global trade war last night after the world’s largest countries clashed over currency policies aimed at protecting their own faltering economic recoveries at the expense of others. In his strongest words yet on America’s long-running dispute with China over the value of its currency, US treasury secretary Tim Geithner [...]
Barclays could face prosecution after judge derides £190m settlement offer August 17, 2010 BARCLAYS is nervously awaiting the outcome of a legal case in the US today that could leave the banking group facing criminal charges over payments linked to countries barred from trading with the States. A federal judge, who will decide whether to accept Barclays’ $298m (£190m) offer to settle the case, called the bank’s agreement [...]
UK and US slam Iran’s atomic plan November 29, 2009 IRAN defied heads of state and governing bodies worldwide last night, as it announced plans to build 10 new nuclear plants. The Iranian nuclear agency will start work on five uranium enrichment sites over the next two months, Tehran said, with five more to be set up at a later date, with the aim of [...]
FAIRFAX CO-FOUNDER CRAWFORD ON THE HUNT FOR A NEW INVESTOR July 19, 2010 IS A changing of the guard in the offing down at boutique investment bank Fairfax? I hear that Rolly Crawford, who co-founded the firm back in 2006, is on the lookout for a new major investor to take Fairfax forward in its ambitions. A number of interested parties have already been sounded out about the [...]
British sailors held by Iran November 30, 2009 Five British yachters have been taken captive after straying into Iranian waters on their way to an international race. The Britons, part of a nine-strong crew, were picked up by the Iranian navy on Wednesday when the propeller on their vessel, the Kingdom of Bahrain, became damaged. Foreign secretary David Miliband said diplomats had been [...]
Forget Dubai’s woes: Iran is the real risk November 29, 2009 BANKS have written down $3 trillion or so over the past couple of years. We should therefore keep the crisis that is engulfing Dubai in some sort of perspective. The total debts of the Dubai government are around $80bn and nobody is suggesting that more than a small proportion will need to be written off. [...]
Barack Obama congratulates Cameron on his new role as PM May 11, 2010 DAVID Cameron’s first phone call as he made himself at home in Downing Street was from President Barack Obama. The US President congratulated Cameron on his victory and invited him to visit the States in the summer. He said he looked forward to seeing him at the G8 and G20 meetings. They also discussed Afghanistan, [...]