Former Kazakh banker set to be extradited January 9, 2014 A FORMER banker accused of embezzling up to $6bn (£3.6bn) from his employer should be extradited to Ukraine or Russia to face fraud charges, a French court ruled yesterday. Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was chairman of Kazakh bank BTA, had been in hiding since being sentenced to prison for contempt of court by an English judge [...]
Letters to the Editor – 10/01 – Pensions, Turkey’s woes, Best of Twitter January 9, 2014 Pensions [Re: Our pension system is broken. We must tear it up and start again, yesterday] Hindsight may be pointless, but if our pensions system had been ringfenced and taken out of the political arena years ago, we could have avoided the taxation devastation (taxing dividends from investment in funds), and perceived unfairness (higher rate [...]
Slight slowdown for emerging markets as new year kicks off January 6, 2014 THE RATE of growth in some of the world’s major developing economies slowed slightly as 2013 came to an end, with services lagging behind. HSBC’s emerging markets index dropped to 51.6 in December, down from 52.1 in November, suggesting weak growth in the developing world. The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) all posted a [...]
Letters to the Editor – 06/01 – Gold speculation, Payday lending, Best of Twitter January 5, 2014 Gold speculation [Re: Here’s why Capital Economics thinks gold will bounce back this year, Thursday] Buying gold at current prices is speculation, and not just over the potential removal of Indian import restrictions. Its price tells you about fear in an economy at any given point – and there just isn’t that fear around that [...]
Thrills, spills and Brazil: We’re in for vintage 2014 January 5, 2014 Sports editor Frank Dalleres looks forward to a World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Winter Olympics and much more FOOTBALLWorld Cup, 12 June – 13 JulyGold and green, questionable samba references, sweltering temperatures: this year is all about the World Cup in the Beautiful Game’s spiritual home, Brazil. The hosts, Argentina, Germany and Spain are the favourites, [...]
Khodorkovsky released as Putin’s regime loosens grip ahead of Winter Games December 20, 2013 Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, has been released after serving a prison sentence which lasted more than a decade. Official reports say he has already left the remote prison colony near the Arctic Circle, where he was incarcerated. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to free Khodorkovsky, a former political rival, but many of Putin's [...]
Khodorkovsky’s pardon causes market gains December 19, 2013 RUSSIAN stock markets gained yesterday after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to pardon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, after he spent more than ten years behind bars. The move was seen as a boost for investors increasingly worried about political freedoms and Russia’s ability to reform the economy. Russian stocks have underperformed emerging market [...]
Moscow to assist Yanukovich December 17, 2013 The Russian government has offered a major package of economic assistance to embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who is facing huge protests in his own country. Russia is now set to buy $15bn (£9.22bn) of Ukrainian bonds to help boost the country’s public finances. Moscow is also slashing the price that Ukraine pays for Russian [...]
Ukraine protests rage on as EU formally suspends discussions December 15, 2013 AS MASS protests against the government flared in Kiev, the European Union announced yesterday that it will halt talks with Ukraine indefinitely. European commissioner for enlargement Stefan Fule said that the Ukrainian government’s arguments “have no grounds in reality” as he confirmed the curtailment of discussions. Late last month, President Viktor Yanukovych abruptly cancelled negotiations [...]
Forget a Bitcoin bubble: A wider crypto revolt is challenging everything | City A.M. December 13, 2013 FOR ALL the talk of a Bitcoin bubble, it’s easy to miss the real significance of what is currently happening. The rise of Bitcoin is just the beginning. Cryptocurrencies are no longer the domain of activists and grassroots movements, they are nothing less than “new money”. Many are waiting for the moment when a central [...]