
Argentina failed to strike a deal to avert its second default in more than 12 years after talks with holdout creditors and special mediator Daniel Pollack ended without a settlement on Wednesday.

The meeting between Argentine private bank representatives and the 'holdouts' over the debt held by the hedge funds has been adjourned and will be resumed on Thursday, according to Buenos Aires financial daily Ambito.com.

“Unfortunately no agreement was reached and Argentina will imminently be in default”, admitted Daniel A. Pollack, the Special Master appointed by Judge Thomas P. Griesa to conduct and preside over settlement negotiations between Argentina and its holdout bondholders. Pollack emphasized that with default “the ordinary Argentine citizen will be the real and ultimate victim”.

“Special Master” Daniel Pollack, the mediator appointed by US judge Griesa to resolve the dispute between Argentina and the speculative funds' holdouts said the parts talked “face to face” for the first time and assured a new meeting will be confirmed during the day. If a deal is not reached Wednesday sunset Argentina could again fall into default.

Heads of Government of the fourteen Caribbean Community (CARICOM) “were heartened” by their Japanese counterpart’s Shinzo Abe positive response to a number of issues raised during their one-day summit in Guyana.

Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £218m for serious misconduct over some key interest rates set in London. The group manipulated the London interbank offered rate (Libor) for yen and sterling and tried to rig the rate for yen, sterling and the US dollar, said the US legal order.

Sharply higher interest rates around the world could combine with weaker growth in emerging markets to slice as much as two percentage points off global growth in the next five years, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

President Cristina Fernández addressed fellow heads of state at the Mercosur summit in Caracas, where she thanked members of the bloc for their support over the ongoing fight with holdout investors in the New York courts and underlined that Argentina “has paid debt obligations religiously”.

Argentina will sent a negotiation team to New York on Monday for further talks with a US court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack in its debt dispute with holdout investors, Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said earlier, with just two days left to avert a default.

The Falkland Islands Company has announced the expansion of its tax efficient share plan (Share Incentive Plan or SIP) which is open to all its 180 full time employees. The company believes in share ownership by staff and the public company status of its parent company, Falkland Islands Holdings plc (FIH), allows local staff to benefit from this in a meaningful way.