AFP The German government on Monday announced the start of a voluntary recall of 630,000 vehicles to fix emissions irregularities uncovered in the wake of Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” scandal. The federal transport authority KBA said in a statement it would begin the recall with refits for 10,500 Porsche Macan 4x4s, one of the luxury automaker’s best sellers. A German inquiry ...
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EU could penalize Volkswagen over consumer protection
AFP German auto giant Volkswagen could face penalties and compensation claims over its diesel emissions scandal under European consumer protection law, a top EU official told newspaper Die Welt in remarks published on Monday. “In most member states, Volkswagen clearly infringed consumer protection law,” justice and consumer protection commissioner Vera Jourova said. “I think it’s therefore necessary that we ...
Read More »Eurozone economy ‘losing momentum’ as Germany falters
AP The 19-country eurozone lost some economic momentum in August, largely because of a slowdown in Germany, a closely watched survey showed Monday, days ahead of another possible stimulus package from the European Central Bank. Financial information company IHS Markit said its purchasing managers’ index — a broad gauge of economic activity — for the eurozone fell to a ...
Read More »Economic data delays US rate boost
Bloomberg The dollar slumped against its major peers after disappointing U.S. economic data last week cut the chance of a September interest-rate increase to about one in three. A gauge of the greenback retreated after two weeks of gains. Friday’s below-forecast payrolls data, which came on the heels of a surprise manufacturing slowdown, helped lower the prospect of a ...
Read More »A ‘slush fund’ by any other name
Because truth in labelling laws are among the laws from which Washington feels exempt, the titles of congressional legislation often take liberties with the facts (e.g., the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). The Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act, however, precisely names the ailment for which it is the remedy. The Justice Department has negotiated “bank settlement agreements†whereby ...
Read More »Banking poses a shrinking risk to taxpayers
There is some good news in bank land. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. just released its quarterly banking profile update (executive summary), and it is filled with signs of improvements in the state of the industry. Just some highlights: Net operating revenue is rising, as is loan growth and revenue. Quarterly net income was the highest since the financial crisis ...
Read More »Trump’s immigration ideas are as bad as ever
After more than a week of conflicting accounts of Donald Trump’s views on immigration, a period of confusion marked by words such as “softening,†Trump made his intentions clear last Wednesday. The line is as hard as ever, even if the policy is all over the place. In the afternoon, Trump had a strange, subdued meeting with Mexican President ...
Read More »Bankruptcy law fresh lease of life for SMEs
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will benefit the most from the new bankruptcy law whose final draft was approved by the UAE cabinet on Sunday. It will help them ease their functioning while bolstering them to shore up investment. Earlier, the SMEs — as well as other companies and businesses — who failed to pay back their debts ...
Read More »Judicial Watch’s pursuit of Clinton goes too far
The Clintons have been subject to fishing expeditions before, but why is a federal court making Hillary Clinton give sworn responses now to questions about her use of a private e-mail server back when she was secretary of state? This all stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by a conservative group seeking State Department information about ...
Read More »Is the age of Asian sweatshops coming to an end?
For 30 years, the word “sweatshop†has conjured up a very specific image: low-wage Asian workers making branded clothes in crowded, unsafe factories for consumers overseas. The power of that image has launched human rights campaigns, altered how major companies source their products and informed (often incorrectly) how politicians in rich countries shape their trade policies. Now that image is ...
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