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 Credit markets have withdrawn their support, although recent studies suggest that the situation is “thawing”, especially among community banks.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…
Greece increased the pressure on its creditors late on Tuesday, as it looks to secure a bond swap deal that will help write off an estimated 53.5 percent of the country’s privately held debt. Athens informed creditors that it is reassessing its options concerning non-payment, saying it will default on any bondholders unwilling to participate…
Greek Tourism Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos believes that the EU is responsible for Greece’s current economic situation. “People should remember that European institutions have been monitoring the Greek economy since 2004… What happened between 2004 and 2009? Either the EU was not doing its job correctly, or it knew what the situation was and hid it,”…
Global shares in commodities such as copper and natural gas took a hit in early trading on Tuesday as investors tried to digest the repercussions of China’s announcement that it is to scale back its expansion plans. China, for the first time in eight years, has cut its annual economic growth target to below eight…
Glencore, the globe’s largest commodity trader, said on Monday that the $37bn offer for Xstrata is a fair deal, and is a “logical” next step for the two companies. There was no indication that it was willing to improve its offer to win over hesitant investors. Last month Glencore released estimated 2011 earnings together with…
Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner, has announced that Google’s new privacy policy, effective as of midnight on March 1, represented “a breach of EU law”. In the face of entreaties from the EU to cease and desist earlier last week, Google went ahead with the privacy policy update, and issued a statement declaring that…
Shares in Peugeot fell around 7.7 percent following a debt rating cut by Moody’s late on Thursday. The move saw the French car manufacturer’s rating drop to “junk” status, which may hinder a proposed deal with General Motors. According to Moody’s, a GM alliance would possibly weigh on earnings in the short term without yielding…
