Bondholders in Austrian ‘bad bank’ Heta hit by significant haircut April 10, 2016 Creditors in Austrian “bad bank” Heta Asset Resolution will receive less than half of their money back according to the country’s financial regulator, the FMA. An FMA statement outlined that senior bondholders could expect to receive at least 46c/€ which would be paid from the realisation of assets by 2020 – and said that this [...]
Panama Papers scandal: Mossack Fonseca says it is still waiting for a call from the taxman April 10, 2016 Ramon Fonseca, the founding partner of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal, is showing the world that you're never too well known to find yourself sat by the phone, waiting for it to ring. The founding partner of Mossack Fonseca said in an interview on Saturday that his firm is still yet to [...]
China plans to keep its steel exports at high levels April 9, 2016 China indicated it will keep pumping out high levels of steel in the future, as the world's second largest economy is coming under fire for its part in the UK steel crisis. Luo Tiejun, the vice head of the raw materials department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said today that if [...]
Panama Papers prompt US Treasury Department to speed up rule change of bank treatment of company ownership April 7, 2016 The leak of more than 11m files from a Panama-headquartered law firm which implicated various household names in offshore tax dealings has prompted the US government to hurry through a rule change on how banks treat company ownership, it was revealed early this morning. On Sunday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published its Panama Papers report [...]
Venezuela declares every Friday a holiday as energy crisis bites April 7, 2016 Venezuela has declared that every Friday for the next two months will be a holiday. In a televised speech last night, Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro said: "We'll have long weekends." While your typical workers probably dreams of a four-day working week, more time off for Venezuelans is actually the result of a crippling energy crisis. Read more: Socialism has created [...]
Why China wants to blast crude oil into space April 6, 2016 China will blast crude oil into space next week, to learn more about oil reservoirs lying tens of thousands of feet beneath the earth's surface. The experiment will look at how molecules in oil redistribute under intense pressures and uneven temperatures. Researchers want to sharpen their understanding of deep crude oil reservoirs up to eight kilometres underground. Read more: UK space industry to [...]
US Presidental Election: Donald Trump suffers big defeat at the hands of Ted Cruz in Wisconsin as Bernie Sanders takes state ahead of Hillary Clinton April 6, 2016 Controversial Republican hopeful Donald Trump has suffered a heavy blow after rival Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin primary overwhelmingly. While Trump remains the frontrunner, the development means the Republican establishment will be more likely to be able to block his nomination. If Trump does not get half of the required delegates before the Republican national [...]
Four things you may have missed in the ICIJ’s Panama Papers report April 5, 2016 There's no denying that 2.6 terabytes worth of data is a lot to wade through, so it's not surprising that Sunday's Panama Papers report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) was quite a lot to take in. Now that you've had a few days to get your head around the report, here's four things you [...]
Pfizer’s $160bn takeover of Allergan is under pressure after the US Treasury introduced new rules on inversion deals April 5, 2016 A deal between pharma companies Pfizer and Allergan which would create the world's largest drugs firm is back in the spotlight as it may not go ahead, after the US Treasury ramped up its efforts to curb so-called 'inversion deals'. Shares in Dublin-based Allergan are down over 15 per cent today, following the Treasury's announcement late last night [...]
Allergan shares tumble in after hours trading as US Treasury takes further steps to curb ‘inversion’ deals April 4, 2016 Shares in Dublin-based pharmaceutical company Allergan have slumped by almost 20 per cent in after-hours trading, after the US Treasury said it was taking steps to curb so-called 'inversion deals' in which US firms reincorporate overseas following an acquisition. Allergan has agreed to be bought by Pfizer in a $160bn (£112bn) deal that would see Pfizer [...]