Economy

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 04:56 UTC

  S&P faces first action by US government against a major credit rating agency

  

  United States regulators disclosed they may take action against Standard & Poor's for securities law violations after the ratings agency gave top grades to a package of securitized mortgages in 2007 that quickly soured.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 01:39 UTC

  Brazilian officials committed to protect the Real from international volatility

  

  Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega returned home early from the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington this weekend, after a plunge in the Real extended the world’s biggest currency slump over the past month.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 01:36 UTC

  Chilean company farming algae for future production of bio-fuels

  

  BAL Chile SA is dedicated to farming algae on the island of Chiloé and in a second stage, plans to produce bio-fuels for industrial use, announced the company’s CEO Benjamin González.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 18:33 UTC

  Uruguay begins negotiations to mitigate Brazilian trade restrictions

  

  A Uruguayan government delegation will begin talks on Tuesday in Brazil to address the latest restrictions imposed by Mercosur largest member and which threaten several manufacturing sectors, particularly the auto industry, said Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 17:15 UTC

  Greek minister denies talks with IMF and EXB for an “orderly default”

  

  Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos dismissed reports that he has discussed a scenario of an orderly default by Athens with International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde and European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 06:45 UTC

  Given global crises Argentina urges region countries “to implement their own solutions”

  

  Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou urged countries in the region to “seize the opportunity created as a result of the crisis affecting developed nations and implement their own solutions.”

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 06:34 UTC

  IMF insists Argentina must improve measuring inflation method

  

  Nicolas Eyzaguirre, the IMF director for Latin America, stated that Argentina must apply “major measures” to improve its method of measuring the inflation.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 06:27 UTC

  The Economist analyzes trade restrictions (protectionism) in Argentina and Brazil

  

  The Economist in its latest edition has a two-chapter piece on trade restrictions imposed by South America’s two biggest economies. The first (“Keep Out”) refers to Argentina and the second (“A self made siege’) to Brazil.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 04:43 UTC

  Argentine inflation controversy reaches the courts: Judge subpoenaed reporters

  

  An Argentine Judge has subpoenaed six newspapers for the names and phone numbers of all reporters and editors who have covered Argentina's economy the past five years, so they can be called as witnesses against their sources.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 03:58 UTC

  Huge blackout exposes vulnerability of world’s main copper supplier energy grid

  

  A massive power blackout on Saturday paralyzed crucial copper mines in Chile and darkened vast swaths of the country including the capital Santiago before energy started to be restored, officials said.