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Danish Banks Fire Moody’s For “Business Reasons”

MILESTONES: DENMARK By Gordon Platt Moody’s Investors Service says something is rotten in Denmark’s mortgage industry. The country’s banks are still issuing interest-only loans, years after the real-estate bubble burst. Copenhagen still home to interest-free mortgages Meanwhile, Denmark’s household ...

Banking

Fed Allows Chinese Bank To Acquire US Banking Assets

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES / CHINA By Gordon Platt The Federal Reserve gave its seal of approval to China’s system of bank regulation and unanimously approved the first-ever takeover of a US retail bank by a state-owned Chinese bank. Photo ...

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Global Salon: Instability And Finance

INSTABILITY AND FINANCE By Paula Green Global Finance sat down with noted author and international economist James K. Galbraith to hear his views on political instability, its relation to income inequality, and what the implications are for the ...

Banking

Islamic Financing Facility To Be Tested By US Courts

MILESTONES: MIDDLE EAST / US By Anita Hawser The ability of US bankruptcy law to handle shariah-compliant structures is being tested after Bahraini firm Arcapita Bank’s decision in March to file for bankruptcy protection in the US. Business ...

News

No Joy For Rajoy

NEWSMAKERS: SPAIN By Anita Hawser Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is probably glad he is not running for office at present. Tough task to sort out Spanish banks Photo Credit : MATTHI/ Shutterstock.com Having swept to power in elections ...

Banking

Poverty, Bank Fees Blamed For Growth Of The Unbanked

MILESTONES: GLOBAL By Paula Green Whether it’s that endless, dusty bus ride to the nearest automated teller machine or simple poverty that keeps them from opening a bank account, the 2.5 billion people who do not have accounts with ...

News

Profumo Starts With A Splash At Monte Dei Paschi

NEWSMAKERS: ITALY By Luca Ventura When Tuscan bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena appointed the charismatic Alessandro Profumo as its new chairman in late April, the news made headlines around the world. Profumo is ready for the challenge ...

News

The Fate Of Europe In The Balance

NEWSMAKERS: FRANCE By Luca Ventura French president-elect François Hollande is a flag-bearer for adding growth incentives to a European fiscal agreement, rather than just doling out austerity measures. Hollande elated at defeating Sarkozy Photo Credit : SKPHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock.com ...

News

The Still-Seamy Underbelly Of Energy Trading

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES By Gordon Platt As the tide went out for natural gas prices, it revealed that the seamy underbelly of the energy-trading business hasn’t changed a great deal since the days of Enron. McClendon ran a hedge ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Cover Story: China In Europe

WITH A COOL HAND By Laurence Neville China is taking advantage of the European crisis to make strategic investments in the Continent and encourage companies to pick up cheap assets. But the Asian nation is taking a slow ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Gold Starts Paying Unique Dividends

MILESTONES: GLOBAL By Valentina Pasquali Over the past few years markets have experienced declining trust in fiat money, a slow departure from the US dollar as a reserve currency and growing interest in bullion, particularly as a hedge against ...

News

Johnsen Makes Few Friends With Norwegian Banking Rule Proposals

NEWSMAKERS: NORWAY By Luca Ventura A former bank teller, Norway’s finance minister Sigbjørn Johnsen is not too concerned about upsetting some of his erstwhile bank employers. Johnsen takes on Norway’s banks again Photo Credit : REUTERS/SCANPIX “It ...