August, 2017

• 29 August

  Vietnam’s repression may threaten its growth

  

  Vietnam’s economy has been performing remarkably well in recent years. Unemployment is just 2.3 percent. Growth is expected to exceed 6 percent annually until 2019. Disbursed foreign direct investment is set to rise to more than $16 billion this year—a record—while manufacturing has been booming as companies shift production from China. Yet even as its economy thrives, Vietnam’s politics have ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  What Confederate monument builders were thinking

  

  On the afternoon of May 27, 1901, the clerk of the Alabama Constitutional Convention read out a letter to the delegates written by educator Booker T. Washington and signed by 23 other state black leaders. A couple of the delegates had objected to hearing it, as it was already past adjournment time, but Thomas W. Coleman, a Princeton-educated lawyer from ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Stocks drop, havens rally on N Korea fears

  

  Bloomberg Stocks slumped across Europe and Asia and havens including gold jumped after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, rattling markets from London to Sydney. Gasoline climbed as energy companies braced for another hit from Tropical Storm Harvey. As equities retreated, volatility rose and bonds gained in classic risk-off moves. US stock futures also tumbled, Treasuries jumped and ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Qatar stock market falls after Fitch downgrade

  DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock market dropped on Tuesday after Fitch cut the country’s credit rating, while most other Gulf bourses fell in thin trade but Egypt’s blue-chip index gained strongly, helped by investment firm Qalaa Holdings. Fitch lowered Qatar by one notch to AA-minus with a negative outlook on Monday, citing the impact of sanctions imposed by other Arab ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Brexit logjam looms at BoE as EU banks consider moves

  

  Bloomberg A logjam is looming at the Bank of England as almost 80 foreign banks that are operating UK branches decide on their future in post-Brexit Britain. The first choice for lenders from the European Union using the passporting mechanism for their UK business— a device that will no longer be available after Brexit— is whether to stay or go. ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Banks waive fees for Harvey-hit customers

  

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Comerica Inc. are among banks waiving ATM fees for Houston-area customers following flooding from Hurricane Harvey. JPMorgan will also forgo collecting late fees for mortgage, credit card, business banking and auto loans, and will temporarily suspend monthly service and overdraft charges on deposit accounts, the firm said. Wells Fargo also ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Ghana banks on IMF backing for growth

  

  Bloomberg Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is banking on good news from the International Monetary Fund after his predecessor derailed an economic recovery plan through overspending. As the nation awaits the outcome of a review from the Washington-based lender, which may come as soon as Wednesday, on reforms since Ghana entered a $918 million credit programme with the lender in 2015, ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Euro rises above $1.20 for first time in two years

  

  Bloomberg The euro advanced to its strongest level in more than two years, hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Core European bonds rallied as risk-off sentiment spread across the globe. Europe’s common currency gained for a third day even as South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a show of force in response, which traders said highlighted ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Georgian billionaire sues Credit Suisse in Singapore, NZ

  

  Bloomberg Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili sued Credit Suisse Group AG in Singapore, New Zealand and Bermuda, alleging the bank must have known about the actions of a former employee who forged trades to cover losses from other customers’ accounts. Ivanishvili, an ex-prime minister of the former Soviet republic, filed the claims in Auckland at the New Zealand High Court on ...

  Read More »
• 28 August

  UNHCR: UAE has played leading role in humanitarian relief

  DUBAI / WAM A total of AED151 billion ($41 billion)was invested by foreigners in Dubai property market in 18 months, according to the Dubai Land Department. The DLD revealed the figure while announcing a list of the top10 nationalities that invested in the emirate’s realty market between January 2016 and the end of June 2017. The new list confirms that ...

  Read More »