News

New York / AFP Confronted with a sluggish global economy, US companies have settled on a controversial tool that rewards shareholders and executives: share buybacks. First permitted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 1982, the use of share buybacks has spread rapidly over the last five years due in part to pressure from activist investors anxious for a ...

Washington / AFP US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Europe’s powerful competition commissioner that the EU review of tax breaks given to multinationals could have an “outsized” impact on US companies. In a recent meeting , Lew expressed concerns to Margrethe Vestager, who is leading the campaign to end excessive tax breaks by EU members to huge multinational firms, that ...

Reuters Argentina’s auto production will hold steady or drop slightly this year as sales are hit by the steep recession in main trading partner Brazil, the ADEFA association of vehicle makers said on Saturday. “The external situation will remain complicated,” the president of ADEFA, Enrique Alemany, said in a statement published online. “There are no prospects for a Brazilian recovery.” ...

Reuters A United Nations body has cut its modest economic growth projection for Latin America in 2016 and is now forecasting an average contraction in regional gross domestic product of 0.6 percent. The Santiago-based Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean, citing low commodities prices and financial market volatility, cut its prior call for 0.2 percent average economic growth ...

Reuters California will increase the amount of money new parents can receive through the state’s paid family leave program under a bill to be signed on Monday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. The measure, passed last month by the state legislature, would increase the amount paid to new parents or people caring for a sick family member to as much ...

Bloomberg Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order declaring an emergency period for its Government Development Bank to help keep it operating, while declining to halt or suspend its debt obligations. The Development Bank, which lends to the U.S. commonwealth and its municipalities and is running out of cash, faces a $422 million principal and interest payment ...

BRASILIA / Reuters Brazil’s inflation rate slowed sharply in March to below 10 percent a year, the lowest in nine months, although it still remained well above the government’s target despite a severe recession and one of the world’s highest interest rates. Consumer prices as measured by the benchmark IPCA index rose 9.39 percent in the 12 months through March, ...

Dubai / Emirates Business International aviation specialists will convene this April in Dubai at the 4th edition of the World Aviation Safety Summit, to propose new procedures for enhancing a culture of safety across the industry. Global experts will analyse how the sector can ensure that safety is standardised and best practice is implemented worldwide, particularly as airlines in emerging ...

Ritika Sharma / Emirates Business UAE has a comprehensive education system and its competency is recognisedworldwide. Taking a step forward, Dubai-based Academia Management Solutions International (AMSI) has launched ‘AMSI Voices’ — a programme aimed at harnessing the benefits of corporate networking by bringing alumni of different schools under one roof. The annual event will aim at bringing together alumni and ...

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business UAE-based leading real estate company Manazel is all set to venture into overseas in search of new market. Manzel has recently announced its new project in Jordan aiming at the mid-segment market. “As it has been witnessed that Jordan is experiencing exponential growth, and our new venture ‘Manazel Amman’ is our effort to provide affordable ...