The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has launched a $1bn fund with the Chinese government with the intention to invest in the Caribbean and Latin America, said the bank’s President Luis Alberto Moreno late on Monday. It is believed the move will help China strengthen its ties to prominent institutions in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The…
After a controversial struggle with mining corporations which spanned two years, parliament has passed a law imposing a 30 percent tax on coal mine profits. The tax will affect any company that makes $75m in profits, and with 30 Australian mining companies breaking the barrier, the government believes it will raise somewhere in the region…
Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer by volume, said on Monday that adjusted net profit results for 2011 showed a plunge of 91.7 percent due to high debt servicing outgoings and lower aluminium prices. The group posted a net profit of $237m compared to $2.87bn the year before largely because of a write-down in the…
There is a growing concern about cost inflation in the Chilean mining industry, according to the CFO of London-listed Chilean mining group Antofagosta. The news comes amid worries about overall copper production in Chile, which recorded a down trend of almost eight percent year on year in January. Hussein Barma at the Jefferies copper conference…
An executive director at US investment giant Goldman Sachs on Wednesday resigned publicly by way of a contemptuous opinion piece in the New York Times, saying the work environment had become “toxic and destructive” at the bank. Greg Smith’s parting shocker accused Goldman in the paper of losing touch with its moral compass and being…
Germany’s biggest utility group, EON AG, announced on Wednesday a 50 percent profit drop due to reduced power generation earnings following the closure of its nuclear reactor, and a weakened demand in its gas business. Eon said after the announcement that it will now cut its dividend by a third to €1 a share for…
Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg resigned as chairman of Rusal on Tuesday, saying the company’s bad management style, led by CEO Oleg Deripaska, has brought on a debt crisis to the world’s largest aluminium producer. Vekselberg, who has an indirect stake in the company, clashed with Rusal on strategic development issues, human resources policies and matters…
Citigroup has announced late on Sunday it is to increase its China presence to a hundred from the current 47 within two to three years, according to the CEO for Asian operations, Stephen Bird. Doubling the branches will help speed up its drive into China’s credit card business and an imminent securities joint venture. According…
Small businesses have had a rougher road than larger enterprises during the past three years. Credit markets have withdrawn their support, although recent studies suggest that the situation is “thawing”, especially among community banks. Cash flows have slowed, as the majority of clients have been forced to be “slow pays” to meet current demands, and…
The US Treasury Department late on Wednesday reached a deal with insurer AIG to sell off an estimated $6bn in stock in an attempt to gradually sell down the stake it still owns. The Department already cut its stake to 77 percent when it sold 200 million shares last May. Shares are now being offered…
