Time to worry: The Iranian nuclear crisis still threatens global stability February 16, 2014 ONE OF the areas of overlap between the business and political worlds concerns negotiation; any businessman or government-type worth their salt surely loves the chance to play at being that master actor-negotiator Peter O’Toole, if only for a limited audience. Some of my fondest memories of my decade in Washington involve behaving outrageously – asking [...]
BNP Paribas hit by US legal fears February 13, 2014 GIANT French bank BNP Paribas yesterday set aside €798m (£655m) to cover any fines from the US under a probe into possible sanction-breaking. The lender also took a hit from €252m of impairments, mostly made up of a €186m goodwill impairment in its Italian unit BNL. BNP Paribas’ annual profits fell 26.4 per cent after that [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 25 March 2014 March 24, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Russia braced for £70bn in outflows The Russian government is braced for the country’s capital outflows to soar to $70bn in the first three months of the year as investors seek cover from the fallout of President Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian land grab. Andrei Klepach, Russia’s deputy economy minister, said capital outflows in the [...]
Ukraine conflict adds to perfect storm for international markets March 3, 2014 And investors should expect rising levels of geopolitical risk Market risk sentiment quickly unraveled yesterday, as investors reacted to what has been termed the biggest threat to European security this century. As Russian troops massed in Crimea, stocks in Moscow’s MICEX index crashed by around 9 per cent on the open (see graph), with the [...]
How the West’s utopians damned Ukraine to Russian dominance April 14, 2014 THERE is little doubt that Ukraine stands perilously on the edge of disaster, if not full invasion, as Russian troops assemble on its borders and pro-Russian activists violently demonstrate in key eastern cities. So why, in response, has the West floundered? There is a critical division between the major western foreign policy schools of thought [...]
France reassures Israel on Iran November 18, 2013 President Francois Hollande told Israel yesterday that France would continue to oppose an easing of economic sanctions against Iran until it was convinced Tehran had given up any pursuit of nuclear weapons. “France will not give way on nuclear proliferation,” Hollande said at a welcoming ceremony at Tel Aviv airport. “So long as we are [...]
EU politicians have just hacked down the invention that could beat hunger and poverty February 13, 2014 A GM crop has been cut down by EU ministers. Earlier this week, news came that European ministers were about to decide on whether to sanction the cultivation of a new for of GM maize in the EU. At the meeting in Brussels, 19 of the EU’s 28 opposed approval of the insect-resistant Pioneer 1507. [...]
Blame this policy not welfare reform for the rise in food banks February 20, 2014 A host of clergymen have signed a letter demanding that David Cameron take action to tackle the cost of food. Published in the Daily Mirror, the 27 Anglican bishops and 16 other clergy argued that the government's welfare reforms were to some extent responsible for the rapid rise of food banks in recent years. We [...]
Market chaos as war fears mount March 3, 2014 World leaders compare Russia’s threat to Ukraine to Soviet era tactics WORLD leaders last night condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, demanding that troops pull out of the country and leave its politicians to organise new elections in peace. The crisis hit home in the City as investors fled shares of firms exposed to Russia and [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 10 March 2014 March 10, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Spotify’s credit line hints at IPO Spotify has secured a $200m credit facility from lenders including Morgan Stanley, bringing the Swedish music company a step closer to a potential initial public offering in the US, according to people close to the deal. The Stockholm start-up, which last year sold equity that implied a [...]