Trump administration is pulling out all the stops in its efforts to get the US President’s ban on travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries and on all refugees reinstated. On Sunday, a federal appeals court denied the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of Trump’s ban. The detention of dozens and the return of others to their departure points ...
Read More »Don’t discount a center-left comeback in Europe
The right-wing, nationalist resurgence in Europe is now a cliche. It is, however, not inconceivable that a successful backlash is developing in some countries before the nationalists had a chance to take over. It’s too early to draw any conclusions, but in the European Union’s two biggest economies — Germany and France (the UK should no longer count) — ...
Read More »BoE is right to ignore inflation
The UK economy is in a holding pattern after the June referendum decision to quit the European Union. Growth hasn’t collapsed, consumers are still spending, and the Bank of England (BoE) kept its monetary policy unchanged on Thursday. And while Governor Mark Carney says future moves could be in ‘either direction,’ it’s pretty clear that inflation would have to ...
Read More »Pay attention to ‘invisible infrastructure’
In his early days in office, true to his campaign promises, President Donald Trump is promoting a $1 trillion plan to upgrade the nation’s aging physical infrastructure. To maximize job creation, investment and benefits to all Americans, he should also focus on our “invisible infrastructure†— the unseen airwaves that enable wireless connections. Mobile communication has been a powerful ...
Read More »National Bank sets 5-year goal for ‘top 3’ slot in Canadian market
Bloomberg National Bank of Canada has set a goal of being a ‘Top 3’ Canadian investment bank within five years, setting up a showdown with bigger rivals as the Montreal-based lender seeks to win more business from the nation’s largest companies. “We think we can compete,†Yanick Blanchard, head of corporate and investment banking at National Bank Financial, said ...
Read More »ABN Amro to slash 60% of senior management as bank shrinks
Bloomberg ABN Amro NV plans cut 60 of its 100 senior management jobs and reduce the number of top executives by more than half in a revamp that reflects the bank’s shrinking size. A new management board will include the heads of retail, commercial, corporate and institutional, and private banking, the Amsterdam-based lender said in a statement on Monday. ...
Read More »Global banks extend rally while dollar fluctuates
Bloomberg Bank stocks continued a rally sparked by the Trump administration’s plan to roll back financial regulations, while the dollar fluctuated as investors weighed the prospects for a Federal Reserve rate increase in March. Equities from India to Japan climbed after the S&P 500 Index closed within a point of its all-time high. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. jumped ...
Read More »BNP Paribas outpaces its European peers
Bloomberg With some of Europe’s largest banks still struggling to boost profitability and raise dividends, BNP Paribas SA is doing both. That helps explain why investors have driven the shares to the highest in almost a decade. The Paris-based lender will probably report on Tuesday that fourth-quarter net income more than doubled to 1.63 billion euros ($1.75 billion), according ...
Read More »Lloyds bonuses to beat RBS’s for first time since bailouts
Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc is poised to pay more in bonuses than Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc for the first time since the financial crisis, underscoring the contrasting performances of two of Britain’s bailed out banks. Lloyds has earmarked about 390 million pounds ($486.8 million) for its employee bonus pot, overtaking RBS, which is considering a pool ...
Read More »Resurrecting ‘therapy beach’
Broome / DPA The Dead Sea shimmers blue-green under a mild winter sun, waves rippling gently to the beach as a tourist couple enters the water. The high salt content – at 34 percent almost 10 times the level in the world’s seas – means that a human floats on the water like a cork with no danger of ...
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