Online trading grows in MENA

In the past 10 years, conventional financial institutions in the MENA region have moved heavily to create an online presence for themselves. The online trading ‘tornado’ started to affect the MENA region early 2004. Since that time it has amazingly remodelled the financial industry. International and regional online brokerages, which first came into the scene,…

CG drives healthcare sector

The Diagnostic and Therapeutic Centre of Athens Hygeia S.A. was established in 1970 in Greece by physicians, most of whom were professors at the University of Athens. Since 1975 it has operated in the primary and secondary healthcare services. In January 2006, Marfin Investment Group (MIG) acquired the company, and it became MIG’s investment arm…

Leading the Polish recovery

With leading market positions and a strong operating performance, TVN Group has outperformed its peer group. The Polish advertising market is on track to return to its peak 2008 levels this year. As a result, TVN Group is well positioned to benefit from the further development and digitisation of the Polish media market. TVN Group…

UK inflation: Should the bank tighten?

The Bank of England has had a torrid time of late, with inflation persistently overshooting its forecasts and a series of letters to the Treasury to explain why this has been the case. Independent analysis shows that nominal spending in the UK is rising and inflation has hit four percent. Cries can be heard from…

Asian exchanges could miss M&A wave on regulation

Asia runs the risk of being left behind in the sudden wave of transatlantic stock exchange consolidation, given the tough regulatory regimes, cumbersome ownership structures and protectionist minded governments. The proposed tie-up between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse along with the London Stock Exchange’s move for Canada’s TMX Group has prompted talk the global exchange…

India’s railways puff slowly to private sector reform

Tentative reforms and some eye-catching projects could herald a private sector-driven shake-up of India’s creaking railways, but deeper change is needed to tackle the supply bottlenecks that still crimp growth. Once seen as a shining legacy of the British Raj and still one of the world’s biggest employers, India’s rail network crams 18 million people…

EU to present draft law curbing auditors

Auditing firms in the European Union face more competition and curbs on their activities to restore their “tarnished” image, the bloc’s financial services chief has announced. “One can no longer say ‘move on, there is nothing to see’ on audit issues,” EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier told a webstreamed hearing on auditing in Brussels….

LSE to buy Toronto bourse making $4trn exchange

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is to buy Canada’s TMX to claw back lost market share and create the world’s fourth-largest bourse trading $4.1trn of stock a year. Shares in the LSE, first established in 1698, jumped nine percent as markets welcomed the all-share deal, and indicating a per share valuation for TMX of C$46.7,…

Xstrata year profit up 86%, outlook positive

Miner Xstrata reported a better-than-expected 86 percent jump in annual profit on stronger commodity prices and gave a positive outlook for 2011. The Anglo-Swiss miner said it was still assessing the impact on this year’s results from the recent flooding and cyclones in Queensland – where it has coal, copper and zinc operations – after…