Search Results for: EC
UK banks face break-up threat as watchdog plans competition probe
July 18th, 2014
Britain’s big banks could be broken up after the country’s new competition watchdog said it plans to launch an 18-month investigation into services for small business customers and personal current accounts. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on ...
MPs grill HMRC over accounts and new powers
July 18th, 2014
HMRC’s chief executive, Lin Homer, has told MPs that it will let the National Audit Office check its forecasts for tax collection after it miscalculated figures by £1.9bn a year. Homer and other HMRC board directors also told MPs ...
Bitcoins Can’t Shake Bubble Image in Poll After 45% Drop
July 18th, 2014
Bitcoins, which lost 45 percent of their value after skyrocketing to more than $1,100 last year, are poised to tumble further, according to the latest Bloomberg Global Poll of financial professionals. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said the virtual ...
Oil jumps to nearly $104 as Ukraine crisis spirals
July 18th, 2014
The price of oil continued to climb on Friday, reaching nearly $104 a barrel on concerns that the tensions over Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia could disrupt global supplies. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery was up 51 ...
Google earnings miss; revenue jumps at Play
July 18th, 2014
Google, still the king of online advertising, reported surging second-quarter revenue, but heavy spending pushed its earnings below Wall Street expectations. ”This is a quarter that has something for everyone: the bulls and the bears,” BGC Partners analyst Colin ...
Egypt Cuts Tax Breaks for Fuel; Few Protest
July 18th, 2014
When President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt said he intended to raise the price of flour, rice and other subsidized goods in 1977, he ignited days of riots that left more than 70 people dead and stood as a lasting ...
Asian shares fall as Malaysia jet downing hits sentiment
July 18th, 2014
Asian shares sagged and a drop in Treasury yields pressured the dollar on Friday after news of a downed Malaysian airlines jet at the Ukraine-Russia border sent investors scurrying into defensive assets. The United States believes a surface-to-air missile ...
High & Low Finance: Citigroup’s Settlement, Pro and Con
July 18th, 2014
The punishment did not fit the crime, or at least it did not fit the crime that was charged. Citigroup’s $7 billion settlement of charges that it sold bad mortgage securitizations is a classic example of prosecutors striking a ...
U.S. Oil Trade Imbalance With Canada Shrinking
July 18th, 2014
Thanks in large part to its energy-rich oil sands, Canada exports 10 times more oil to the United States than the United States exports to Canada, but that balance has begun to shrink, primarily because of the recent U.S. ...
Alibaba Plans IPO for After Labor Day
July 18th, 2014
Investors will have to wait a little longer for a chance to buy into the year’s most-anticipated initial public offering. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Thursday decided to push back its IPO—which could raise more than $20 billion—until after ...