Cyprus has officially agreed to a set of measures that will release a 10 billion-euro ($12.8 billion) IMF-EU bailout. The IMF, which is contributing 1 billion euros, says they are “challenging” and will require “great efforts” from its population. The measures will consist of doubling taxes on interest income to 30% and raising corporation tax [...]
Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s 500 share indexes have set new all-time highs on Wall Street. Now the stock markets are returning to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. Dow Jones rose 89 points, to close at 14,662, after an earlier intraday high of about 14,684. S&P 500 closed at a [...]
Cyprus Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has decided to resign after completing talks on the controversial IMF-EU bailout deal. Michalis Sarris will be replaced by Labour Minister Haris Georgiades, reports in the local media suggest. The 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) deal – agreed by the EU and IMF – originally envisaged a levy on all Cypriot [...]
California city of Stockton has become the most populous US city ever to enter bankruptcy protection after a judge has approved its bankruptcy filing. Stockton would be unable to provide basic government services without bankruptcy protection, said a federal judge. Stockton is a city of 290,000, located at 90 miles east of San Francisco. The [...]
The Russian government has announced it will not compensate its citizens who have lost money in the Cyprus banking crisis. Russian citizens are believed to have billions of euros in Cypriot accounts and deposits above 100,000 euros ($128,200) in the two biggest banks (Bank of Cyprus and Laiki) could be reduced by as much as [...]
A list of unusual IRS (Internal Revenue Service) claims that did get approved includes the woman who claimed her breast implants were a business expense and the man who passed off his swimming pool as medical. Topless dancer Chesty Love was a notable case changing the rules for plastic surgery exemption. In 2009 a court ruled [...]
Bank of Cyprus depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($128,200) could lose up to 60% of their savings as part of the EU-IMF bailout restructuring move, officials say. The central bank of Cyprus said 37.5% of holdings over 100,000 euros would become shares. Up to 22.5% will go into a fund attracting no interest and may [...]
The Central Bank of Cyprus has decided to ease some of the restrictions imposed as the country’s banks reopened, following the bailout deal. Debit and credit cards can be used normally for domestic payments. Cyprus’ central bank said it would review the curbs on a daily basis and try to “refine or relax” them when [...]
Global stock markets have fallen after some members of the Federal Reserve suggested its stimulus measures may be increasing the “risks of future economic and financial imbalances”. The comments came in minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, where the Fed said it had left its monthly $85 billion bond-buying plan in place. US markets [...]
US regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the way that the key LIBOR interest rate is set in the UK is still not clean and free of fraud. “We have a lot more work to do,” said Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Gary Gensler suggested that the rate was often “completely [...]
Fuel prices have skyrocketed across the US, with a gallon of gas reaching past $5.00 in some parts of the country. The price of petrol has been continually climbing for the past 32 days, causing many Americans to spend as much as 10% of their income on gas. Experts are puzzled why prices keep ascending, [...]
Japanese shares have risen after finance ministers of the G20 group of nations avoided singling out Japan for criticism over the recent yen weakness. The yen has dipped nearly 15% against the US dollar since November amid Japan’s efforts to stoke inflation. There were concerns that a criticism from G20 may prompt Japan to alter [...]
Asian markets have had a mixed reaction to the nuclear test carried out by North Korea, its third since 2006. South Korea’s Kospi index dipped 0.3%. Analysts said the test was widely anticipated and was unlikely to have a major impact on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index held on its earlier gains of [...]
David Einhorn, an activist shareholder, is suing Apple, demanding that it share out more of its $137 billion cash pile to its investors. Apple’s cash pile has grown to that size from $98 billion last March. US hedge fund manager, David Einhorn, who is behind the unusual move, told the television channel CNBC that Apple [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to be fined a total of about £400 million ($625 million) by UK and US regulators as a result of the LIBOR scandal. The head of RBS’s investment banking arm since 2008, John Hourican, is also expected to step down. However, there is no suggestion he was involved [...]
Eighteen people have been charged with stealing at least $200 million in a credit card fraud ring, possibly one of the largest in US history. The scam allegedly involved thousands of fake identities and businesses, lying to credit rating agencies and wiring some of the proceeds abroad. An FBI agent said the accused had used [...]
Commerzbank, Germany’s second biggest lender, is to announce a large loss for the fourth quarter of 2012. Commerzbank expects a net loss of 720 million euros after a revision of its medium-term profits forecast had a negative effect on its tax accounting. Full-year net profit will be just 6 million euros, down from 638 million [...]
A new credit card rule going into effect Sunday, January 27, 2013, could cost you more when shopping with a credit card at some stores. Visa and Mastercard have agreed to let merchants add a service charge equal to the cost of processing a credit transaction to the bottom line. The cost of processing is [...]
The US Federal Reserve released transcripts from its 2007 meetings have shown it may have underestimated the looming global financial crisis. The documents suggested Fed Governor Ben Bernanke wanted to hold off from addressing rising panic in the markets. Ben Bernanke said in December 2007 that he did not “expect insolvency or near insolvency among [...]
The Canadian new plastic banknotes feature Norway maple leaves, instead of the Canadian sugar maple leaf, according to botanists. The botanists argue the leaf shown features more sections and has a more pointed outline than the Canadian version. The maple leaf is featured on the new C$20, C$50 and C$100 notes, which were introduced in [...]
The U.S. real estate market seems to have a relatively steady progress toward recovery in 2013. During 2012 area residential and commercial property sales hit their highest level in five years for some regions throughout the country. Coastal town real estate market boom tendency, the U.S. apartment shortage and the high rents, along with the [...]
Bank of America has agreed to pay US government mortgage agency Fannie Mae $3.6 billion to settle claims relating to residential home loans. In addition, Bank of America has agreed to buy back 30,000 mortgages for $6.75 billion, and pay a further $1.3 billion in compensation. Fannie Mae argued the bank sold it toxic debts [...]
International financial regulators have eased rules on minimum quantities of cash and liquid assets all banks must hold, set to take effect in 2015. The agreement, by the body that oversees the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, is an attempt to make banks less vulnerable to runs. The new “liquidity coverage ratio” will be phased [...]
Wegelin & Co., Switzerland’s oldest bank, is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes. Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8 million (44 million euros) in fines to US authorities. It said that once this was completed, it “will cease [...]
European and Asian markets have gained after a short-term deal to stave off the so-called US fiscal cliff was reached. UK shares jumped 1.5% while other European indexes were also higher. Failure to agree a deal would have triggered spending cuts and tax increases worth $600 billion. There had been fears that the measures would [...]
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Christine Lagarde questioned by French court in Bernard Tapie caseChristine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister. The IMF chief is…
Brussels Summit: EU leaders in drive against tax evasionEU leaders at Brussels summit say they are committed to tackling tax evasion and will push for global action to curb banking secrecy. The president of the European Council,…
Venezuela's toilet paper shortage ended after National Assembly backs importVenezuela's National Assembly has backed the country’s plans to import 39 million rolls of toilet paper, in an effort to relieve a chronic shortage. Lawmakers voted to…
US immigration bill passes Senate panel with 13-5The immigration bill that would offer a chance of citizenship to millions living in the US illegally has taken a stride forward in Congress. A Senate panel voted 13-5 to…
Jose Manuel Barroso urges full tax data exchangeThe head of the European Commission has told the European Parliament he wants EU-wide exchange of income data as part of the fight against tax evasion. Jose Manuel Barroso…
Apple among America's big tax avoidersApple has been accused by US Senate of being "among America's largest tax avoiders". A Senate committee said Apple had used "a complex web of offshore entities" to avoid…