
Argentine central bank international reserves dropped 17% since the government of President Cristina Fernandez imposed the ‘dollar clamp`, first limiting operations in the US currency and later savings in greenbacks. While this happened in Argentina in other regional central banks, international reserves kept climbing, according to a report from consultants Economia&Regiones (E&R).

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, who turned 26 on Monday and is under investigation in Spain for tax fraud allegations, paid €10 million to the Spanish tax authorities to correct tax returns for 2010 and 2011, according to Spanish media reports.

The European Commission gave unconditional approval for Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to buy NYSE Euronext for 8.2 billion dollars a deal that strengthens ICE's presence in the lucrative derivatives trading business.

By Thomas Richardson - Google has reached a settlement with regulators of the European Union after antitrust charges were levied against the company. The EU accused Google of selectively displaying results based on its preferences. Google, which owns a virtual monopoly on Internet queries in Europe, is also accused of favouring the use of its own products in search results, which has drawn complaints from competitors, and the attention of regulators.

The Bank of England and its Chinese counterpart have signed a deal likely to boost trade between the UK and China in the Yuan. The BoE and the People’s bank of China have signed a three year currency swap arrangement worth 200bn Yuan (33bn dollars), the UK central bank confirmed.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says banks have done their bit to help economic recovery and governments must do more. The Basel bases organization, known as the central banks' central bank says it is time for them to stop pumping funds into their economies.

Europe failed to agree on how to share the cost of bank collapses, as Germany resisted attempts by France to water down rules designed to spare taxpayers in future crises.

LAN Airlines and its affiliates and TAM Airlines, members of LATAM Airlines Group, were once again recognised as the Best Airlines in South America, receiving first and second place, respectively, according to World Airline Survey, conducted yearly by Skytrax, the prestigious English company dedicated to the world airline and airport industry.

The Pacific Alliance is a ‘marketing success’ and does not represent a concern for Mercosur since it does not have the potential for physical integration as other blocks from the region, said Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota during a congressional hearing this week in Brasilia.

The World Bank is concerned about the spill-over effects on developing countries of a slowing of US money creation and will move to provide affordable capital when borrowing costs rise.