Monthly Archives: June 2010

StanChart stumps up $500m for AgBank IPO

Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered Plc said it will invest $500m as a cornerstone investor in Agricultural Bank of China’s IPO in Hong Kong. AgBank is seeking to raise more than $20bn in a Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO, and sources had previously told reporters that Standard Chartered would invest $500m. The listing is expected to…

Cuts expected to reduce police numbers

The government said on Tuesday it was cutting police red tape by scrapping two targets introduced by the ousted Labour administration ahead of budget cuts expected to see a reduction in officers. Police minister Nick Herbert said sweeping away bureaucracy would allow officers to “do more with less” but accepted that “substantial” funding cuts were…

Asia stocks rise as US bank bill fears ease

Most Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with Europe set to follow, as fears eased that Washington would draft a harsh bill for regulating the banking sector and after an unremarkable conclusion to a Group of 20 leaders’ summit.  G20 leaders meeting in Toronto agreed to take their own paths to ensuring economic growth and…

India fuel hike threatens strikes

India’s opposition parties are gearing up for a national strike to protest the government’s move to hike fuel prices, putting pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition before the next parliament’s session.  Last Friday’s hikes in petrol, diesel and kerosene were seen as a bold reform with which to attack India’s fiscal deficit and that…

Afghan mineral wealth put at $1-3 trillion

Afghanistan’s untapped mineral deposits could be worth up to $3 trillion, the country’s mines minister said on Friday, higher than a recent U.S. estimate.  Officials from the U.S. Department of Defense said this month that Afghanistan’s mineral wealth could top $1 trillion, a finding that could reshape the country’s economy and help U.S. efforts to…

Who’s in charge in Europe?

The question has puzzled leaders ranging from Henry Kissinger, said to have once asked who he should call to reach Europe, to Barack Obama. It has become all the more pertinent as the European Union tries to fill what is widely viewed as a leadership vacuum during the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.  Two leaders…