April, 2016

• 6 April

  Central Asia points to US as its biggest threat

  What state to citizens in the former Soviet Union view as the biggest threat? Last year Gallup polled thousands across Eastern Europe and Eurasia about which state they viewed as the biggest threat. “What one country in the world would you say poses the greatest threat to your country?” People were asked. The results released this week are interesting, though ...

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• 6 April

  Investors love London houses. That’s a problem

  

  Jean-Michel Paul Britain’s economy may be growing at a faster rate than its European counterparts, but there are two statistics that ought to give concern: London’s stratospheric real estate prices and the country’s current account deficit (which measures the sum of exports and imports and net investment flows as well as net transfers). They are, in fact, two sides of ...

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• 6 April

  Pakistan’s ticking time bomb: Climate change

  

  While Pakistan is already struggling with a potential existential threat—the scourge of terrorism—it’s currently siting on an even bigger ticking time bomb. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey measuring perceptions of different international issues (such as global climate change, global economic instability, and IS). In Pakistan, ...

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• 6 April

  European stocks advance as oil buoys energy shares

  

  BLOOMBERG Stocks rebounded from a six-week low in Europe as gains in crude prices sent energy shares higher. U.S. equity-index futures rose and the dollar strengthened. European equities advanced after falling the most in more than a month on Tuesday and futures signaled the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rise after the biggest two-day plunge in almost two months. ...

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• 6 April

  Emirates Securities Market down by -0.36 percent

  

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has decreased by -0.36% to close at 4441.39 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has lost AED 2.58 billion attaining AED 720.45 billion. A total of 0.89 billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 0.98 billion during the trading session of 06-04-2016 through 9367 transactions. The number of companies which ...

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• 6 April

  Asia private banks’ assets take a dive

  

  Bloomberg Asia’s top private banks posted their first drop in assets under management and number of relationship managers in at least three years as the region’s economic growth slowed and mounting regulatory pressure forced them to reject some clients. Total assets at the 20 biggest banks in Asia fell 4.2 percent to $1.47 trillion last year, as the number of ...

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• 6 April

  Hungary’s state-owned MKB Bank posts $277.3 million loss in 2015

  

  Budapest / Reuters Hungary’s state-owned MKB Bank posted a loss of 76.4 billion forints ($277.3 million) last year, down from 148.1 billion in 2014, as the costs of spinning off a large chunk of distressed debt still pushed it deep into the red, it said on Wednesday. Last year MKB disposed of a gross 213 billion forints worth of bad ...

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• 6 April

  Polish Alior Bank plans $587mn share issue to finance BPH deal

  

  Warsaw / Reuters Polish bluechip lender Alior Bank plans to raise up to 2.2 billion zlotys ($587 million) from a rights issue of shares to finance its flagged takeover of local rival BPH and strengthen its capital base, it said on Wednesday. Alior, controlled via a 25.2 percent stake by Polish state-run insurer PZU, wants its shareholders to approve the ...

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• 6 April

  Westpac faces court in rate-rigging probe

  

  Sydney / AFP Westpac Bank has vowed to “vigorously defend” itself against allegations it manipulated the interbank lending rate after Australia’s corporate regulator launched legal action against the financial giant, the second case in a lengthy investigation. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it began legal action against Westpac in the federal court for manipulating a key market ...

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• 6 April

  Oman raises limit for banks’ government bond holdings

  Muscat / Reuters Oman’s central bank has increased the maximum amount of government securities which banks can hold to 45 percent of their net worth from 30 percent, central bank and commercial banking sources said. The move will make it easier for the government to sell debt as it steps up bond issues to finance a big budget deficit caused ...

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