Stories for October 2015

Tuesday, October 13th 2015 - 07:26 UTC
The 'big three' credit rating agencies questioned by UN for their 'subjectivity'

Credit ratings agencies have been questioned by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), who says they favor countries with a certain ideological bent.
Tuesday, October 13th 2015 - 07:13 UTC
Pacific Alliance members outstand in Latin American performance, says IMF

Brazil is still by far the largest economy in Latin America despite its recession and the impact of the devaluation of the Real, according to the latest report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said Venezuela dropped to the position of the region’s seventh-largest economy with a GDP that’s now half the size of Colombia’s.
Tuesday, October 13th 2015 - 07:00 UTC
Brazilian recession begins to hit US companies profits and shares

Agricultural giant FMC is the latest company to warn about operations in Brazil and now the stock is crashing. On Monday the $5 billion agricultural company announced that it would lay off 800-850 people — saving the company about $150 million a year by 2017 — while also cutting its profit outlook for the third quarter and all of 2015.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 09:32 UTC
Standard Chartered bank plans to cut 1.000 senior jobs

Standard Chartered bank, a London-based lender that makes most of its profit in Asia, could cut up to 1,000 senior jobs, according to an internal memo sent to staff. The move from chief executive Bill Winters is meant to cut costs.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 09:18 UTC
Lagarde blasts US Congress for blocking reforms: “they jeopardize IMF's credibility”

Washington's use of its de facto veto at the International Monetary Fund to block reforms giving emerging countries a greater say is jeopardizing the IMF's credibility, complained Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 06:22 UTC
Scioli leads presidential race in Argentina but still a puff short to avoid runoff

Argentine ruling party's candidate Daniel Scioli maintains a commanding lead in the presidential race but still lacks enough voter support to win outright in the first round, an opinion poll by the Poliarquia consultancy showed on Sunday.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 06:19 UTC
“Under no condition, I might resign” says Brazil's Lower House speaker

The speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress ruled out resigning in response to pressure from colleagues over allegations that he took bribes and stashed the money in Swiss bank accounts.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 06:16 UTC
Petrobras corruption scandal could reach US$ 5.3bn: “we've only seen the tip of the iceberg”

Damage from the gargantuan corruption scandal centered on Brazilian state oil company Petrobras could amount to as much as 20 billion Reais ($5.3 billion), a lead prosecutor revealed last week.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 06:14 UTC
Levy confident congress will finally approve austerity measures to help Brazil's economy

The president Dilma Rousseff administration is geared to “preparing the country to deal with a new international reality”, Brazilian Finance Minister Joaquim Levy told Reuters in an interview on Saturday.
Monday, October 12th 2015 - 06:11 UTC
Guyana now faced with refloated territorial claims from Suriname

Less than a week after returning from the United Nations, where he raised concerns about Guyana’s border dispute with Venezuela, President David Granger was confronted with a similar issue involving Suriname.