Bloomberg Slovak prosecutors indicted far-right leader Marian Kotleba for promoting racism and Nazi ideology, as the European Union member state witnesses a surge in populist, anti-immigrant political forces. Kotleba, a lawmaker and the chairman of the People’s Party, was indicted after sponsoring an event last year during which he gave a charity a check for 1,488 euros, a number that ...
Read More »Historic win for Imran Khan breaks Pakistan’s dynastic rule
Bloomberg Breaking the dynastic hold on Pakistani politics, former cricket hero Imran Khan won the most seats in an election tarred by widespread allegations of rigging and military interference. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Movement for Justice party, clinched at least 115 national seats, according to results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan. He beat the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ...
Read More »India’s forex reserves head for $400bn as RBI defends rupee
Bloomberg India’s foreign exchange reserves may soon drop below the $400 billion mark for the first time since November as the central bank steps up action to shore up one of Asia’s worst-performing currencies. Reserves have steadily declined by $21 billion from a record peak of $426 billion in mid-April, and official data showed it was little changed in the ...
Read More »Deutsche Bank plans staff cuts in Chicago
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is cutting dozens of employees and consolidating space at its Chicago office as part of a broader plan to shrink its US operations, according to people briefed on the matter. The German lender’s Chicago office — which houses units including front-office trading, operations and treasury — will be reducing headcount, said the people, who asked not ...
Read More »RBNZ to decide on interest rates in Q2
Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) new monetary policy committee with external members could begin deciding on interest rates in the second quarter of next year, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. Legislation to enact the government’s RBNZ reforms should pass into law by April, which could allow the enlarged policy committee to begin deliberations as soon as May, ...
Read More »Blackstone picks banks for $1 billion India REIT
Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, has picked banks for India’s first real estate investment trust (REIT) listing, people with knowledge of the matter said. The US company and local partner Embassy Group selected firms including Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said the people. The REIT ...
Read More »ECB keeps to policy path to end bond purchases
Bloomberg The European Central Bank (EDCB) stuck to its plan to end bond purchases as the European Union and US stepped back from a trade war andthe currency bloc’s economic expansion remained solid. The Frankfurt-based institution reiterated it will continue buying $35 billion of assets a month until the end of September, reduce the pace to 15 billion euros from ...
Read More »AEP kills plan for largest US wind farm after Texas rebuff
Bloomberg American Electric Power’s (AEP) $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project was done in by shaky economics, and may become a teaching moment for other developers planning big clean-energy projects. The company pulled the plug on what would have been the biggest-ever US wind farm. Texas regulators rejected the project because it didn’t offer enough benefits for ratepayers, and Oklahoma came ...
Read More »BP’s $10.5 billion deal scores prized BHP shale assets
Bloomberg BP Plc agreed to pay $10.5 billion, its biggest acquisition in almost two decades, for most of BHP Billiton Ltd.’s onshore US oil and natural gas assets, including in the prized Permian Basin. The deal gives the London-based energy giant a position in the Permian, a swath of west Texas and New Mexico that’s the world’s fastest-growing major oil ...
Read More »Shell starts buybacks even as profit misses expectations
Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc finally gave investors the share buybacks they’ve been demanding, even as profit fell short of expectations despite resurgent crude prices. The Anglo-Dutch energy producer said that it is starting a $25 billion share-repurchase programme, initially buying up $2 billion of stock over three months. That should soothe investors who have grown increasingly anxious about when ...
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