But measures to support troubled institutions will need to be unwound carefully to avoid distorting competition, the WTO said in a restricted report to members, dated February 3. “The financial crisis does not seem to have prompted a widespread introduction of trade restrictions in financial services,” said the report by the WTO secretariat, prepared at…
CIT Group Inc has hired former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain as its new chief executive, the commercial lender said in early February, wagering that the well-traveled executive can guide its post-bankruptcy turnaround. Thain, 54, immediately replaces interim CEO Peter Tobin, who will remain a director. Former CIT chief Jeff Peek, another past Merrill executive,…
Bank of Japan policy board member Seiji Nakamura rebuffed government pressure for more BOJ action to fight deflation, saying that pumping liquidity into the financial system alone will not put an end to debilitating price falls. The heavily indebted government fears deflation and a strong yen could push Japan back into recession in the run-up…
Ireland’s services sector shrank by its fastest rate in six months in January, when a marked fall in new orders indicated that unusually bad weather was not solely to blame, a survey showed this week. The NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 44.4 from 48.3 in December, when it had reached a level last equalled…
Western powers have called for a fourth round of UN measures against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment activities as demanded by five Security Council resolutions. Iran insists it has a sovereign right to produce nuclear fuel for what it says is a peaceful civilian atomic energy programme. The west fears Tehran’s programme is…
Australia’s central bank shocked markets by skipping an interest rate rise this week, citing the impact of higher mortgage rates at home while noting tighter policy in China and concerns over sovereign debt abroad. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to keep its key cash rate at 3.75 percent confounded expectations of a rise…
US auto sales for January are expected to show a sharp drop for Toyota after it pulled eight of its most popular models from showrooms last week following complaints over sticking accelerator pedals. In the first public comment from an executive at Toyota’s head office, the company’s executive in charge of quality said he was…
Kenya’s inflation rate is likely to remain low in the near future as the performance of east Africa’s biggest economy improves, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said on Friday. In a statement expounding upon the MPC’s decision to keep its key central bank rate (CBR) at seven percent on Tuesday, Central Bank of…
White House adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress to curb the risks taken by large banks to help prevent them from being treated as “too big to fail,” according to a testimony. Detailing a recent proposal known as “the Volcker rule,” the former Federal Reserve Chairman will tell lawmakers that commercial banks’ proprietary and speculative…
Lawmakers challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s credibility recently after he said he was not involved in a decision by bailed-out insurer AIG to withhold details about $62bn paid to banks. Geithner held his ground at a hearing, however, insisting the government-funded rescue which cost more than $180bn had been necessary to avert economic collapse. Big…
