Trump lets loose and revives travel ban from Muslim countries, just hours after withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement June 2, 2017 President Donald Trump clearly got a taste for shaking things up yesterday, as he turned to the Supreme Court to reinstate his ill-fated travel ban just hours after withdrawing the US from a historic climate change agreement. The Trump administration last night filed an appeal to the highest court in the country, asking the nine [...]
Trading house Vitol nabs $1bn pre-finance oil deal with National Iranian Oil Company January 4, 2017 Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, is understood to have sealed a $1bn (£814m) pre-financing deal with Iran's national oil company. It has agreed to loan the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) $1bn equivalent in euros, guaranteed by future exports of refined oil products, sources told Reuters. The deal is the first major contract signed between Iran and [...]
Donald Trump’s second travel ban has been blocked nationwide March 15, 2017 A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked Donald Trump's second travel ban nationwide with a temporary restraining order. The last-minute order put an emergency hold on the US President's ban, which was meant to take effect tomorrow. Trump's revised executive order removed Iraq from the list of countries barred from entering the US, among other changes. The new measures were designed [...]
Ukraine is set for a new lease of life: A country at war tries to return both to normality and the bond markets July 24, 2017 Ukraine’s prospects are looking up. Two years ago, the country’s then finance minister Natalie Jaresko was seeking fiscal aid. The economy was shattered by war with Russia, which saw GDP plummet by 9.7 per cent in 2015. Things look rather different for her successor. Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former executive with consultant McKinsey in London, took [...]
Five reasons why investing in Iran is too great a risk for British firms May 19, 2016 This morning, in a giant ballroom in one of London’s most luxurious hotels, executives from leading corporations will gather for a major investment conference. In some ways, the conference will be like dozens that take place across London each year. However, this one has an unusual and ominous twist: it is organised precisely to encourage [...]
Iran says it won’t support a production cap as tensions mount ahead of Opec meeting June 2, 2016 Tensions are mounting ahead of today's meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), as Iran and Saudi Arabia look set to battle it out over a proposed new cap on oil production. According to Opec sources, Saudi Arabia will propose a new output ceiling at today's meeting in Vienna, in an attempt to [...]
Want some of the best Chinese food in the world? Go to Taiwan September 8, 2017 Seeking the best in Chinese food and culture, but feeling pressed for time? Skip the mainland and get it all in one place. Go to Taipei. In 1949, after years of civil war, the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang withdrew to an island in the South China Sea, leaving the communists in control of the [...]
UK banks set for US meeting to iron out Iran trade concerns May 9, 2016 Some of the biggest banks in the UK have been invited to meet US secretary of state John Kerry to discuss last year's lifting of economic sanctions on Iran. The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has circulated a note to members asking them to send senior representatives to a meeting with Kerry later this week. The [...]
Black Monday 30 years on: how big was the crash and how fast did markets recover? October 17, 2017 On 19 October 1987 global stock markets came crashing down amid worries about a slowing global economy and high stock valuations. The concerns were compounded by a computer glitch. In the space of 24 hours stock markets in Asia, Europe and the US suffered falls of up to 23%. It was the biggest crash in [...]
Iran goes on production spree ahead of Opec meeting in Doha this weekend April 14, 2016 Shipments of crude oil out of Iran have increased by more than 600,000 barrels a day this month, according to Bloomberg data. The data showed Iran shipped more than two million barrels per day so far in April, compared to around 1.45m barrels a day in March. Iran has been squaring off with oil cartel Opec defacto leader Saudi Arabia [...]