DailyFX: Analyst picks August 12, 2013 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Closed short Aussie dollar-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few weeks The Reserve Bank of Australia meeting led to steeper declines, but a quicker than anticipated reversal knocked my short Aussie-dollar position for a solid (but admittedly poorly managed) [...]
Bribery may be common practice for drugs firms in China August 12, 2013 Five drugs salesmen working for foreign companies operating in China have told the BBC their firms paid bribes to increase sales of products. None wanted to be identified and the BBC didn’t say which firms were involved. One said his company has paid around $1,000 to get its product back on the shelves at one [...]
Investigation into Deutsche Bank’s role in Libor scandal complete August 12, 2013 The German banking and finance regulator is ready to submit its report of Deutsche Bank’s role in the manipulation of interbank lending rates, a source close to the issue has told Reuters. BaFin has reportedly completed its investigation into Deutsche Bank concerning the manipulation of benchmark interest rates like Libor and Euribor and is ready [...]
Portugal quashes rumours of reneging on austerity obligations August 12, 2013 Portugal’s regional development minister Miguel Poiares Maduro has said the country is “fully committed” to meeting its bailout obligations, amid rumours it may dilute the terms imposed by the troika. Poiares Maduro was reacting to a report in Newspaper Weekly Expresso, which said the Portuguese government was considering a reduction in planned spending cuts from [...]
Spain refuses to back down in border dispute August 12, 2013 Spain has said it will not back down on Gibraltar border controls, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry has said. The government feels that controls are “legal and proportionate”. Tensions were raised after a dispute over fishing rights unleashed an underlying conflict regarding sovereignty, with Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy proposing the introduction of a [...]
Greece another step closer to meeting privatisation target with €654m sale of OPAP August 12, 2013 The Greek government has completed the sale of its 33 per cent stake in gambling firm OPAP to a Greek-Czech fund Emma Delta for €654m (£560m). The deal was agreed in May, but talks stumbled as Emma Delta requested changes be made to reduce the fees paid to Intralot and Scientific Games to run the [...]
BlackBerry to explore strategic options – including a possible sale August 12, 2013 BlackBerry has said announced that its board has formed a special committee to explore its strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale – including the possibility of a sale (release). Rumours that the phone company was to go private have been circulating for month, and shares jumped last week after sources reportedly said the [...]
21 British babies named after Game of Thrones character Khaleesi August 12, 2013 Harry, Oliver and Jack held on to their top spots as most popular boy's names in 2012, while Amelia, Olivia and Jessica were most popular for girls, according to the Office for National Statistics. Taking the different forms of spelling into consideration, Muhammed (also, Mohammed and Mohammad) was the second most popular boy's name last [...]
Capita appointed as servicer to Irish government bad bank in €80m contract August 12, 2013 British business process outsourcer Capita been appointed servicer to the Irish government’s “bad bank” in a contract worth around €80m (£69m) over four years. Capita Asset Services will act as primary and special loan servicer on loans held by the Natioanl Asset Management Agency in Ireland (NAMA), currently being managed on behalf of NAMA by [...]
Labour’s immigration speech overshadowed by Tesco/Next row August 12, 2013 Labour’s shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant was forced to defend his criticisms of Tesco and Next made in a speech on Labour’s immigration policy earlier today (today's speech in full). In the leaked version of the speech, Bryant criticised “unscrupulous employers” who choose to use cheaper foreign workers over British candidates in an attempt to [...]