Economy

• Wednesday, June 16th 2010 - 04:26 UTC

  Switzerland closer to handing list of suspected US tax-evaders

  

  Switzerland's parliament has voted to approve a deal which would see information on suspected tax-evaders be passed to US authorities. The Lower House of the Swiss parliament backed the agreement 81 to 61 with 53 abstentions, reversing its earlier decision to reject the agreement last week.

• Tuesday, June 15th 2010 - 02:36 UTC

  EU finance ministers agree on tougher regulation for the hedge fund industry

  

  European Union finance ministers have agreed to introduce tougher regulation of the hedge fund industry. Ministers overrode objections by the new UK government and the City of London, where 80% of European funds are based.

• Monday, June 14th 2010 - 23:45 UTC

  Greek debt downgraded to “junk”; IMF, EU audit finances and budget

  

  Greek government bonds have been downgraded four notches to “junk” status from A3 to Ba1 by Moody's credit rating agency. The agency said Monday there was still “considerable uncertainty” surrounding the impact of measures introduced to cut the country's high budget deficit.

• Saturday, June 12th 2010 - 04:51 UTC

  Uruguay targeting a US dollar at 21/22 Pesos to help exporters

  

  Uruguay will take ‘all the necessary measures’ to target the US dollar at 21/22 Pesos, its equilibrium point to help boost exports, according to Deputy Minister of Economy Pedro Buonomo.

• Saturday, June 12th 2010 - 04:49 UTC

  As US economy picks up, revenue increases and budget deficit drops slightly

  

  The US government posted a smaller budget deficit in May than forecast as a growing economy helped bring in more tax revenue, Treasury Department statistics showed. The excess of spending over revenue fell to 135.9 billion last month from a shortfall of 189.7 billion in May 2009, according to a report issued today in Washington.

• Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:20 UTC

  Argentine industrial activity soared 13.1% in May and 11.8% in first four months

  

  According to the Argentine Industrial Union, the manufacturing sector grew 13.1% in April in comparison with the same month of 2009, with the automotive and the iron and steel industries as key pillars.

• Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:10 UTC

  Spanish group Viajes Marsans (former owners of Aerolineas Argentinas) sold

  

  Spanish travel company Viajes Marsans S.A., the parent company of bankrupt airline Air Comet, has been sold to Posibilitum Business for 600 million euros (720 million USD), the parties to the deal said this week.

• Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:55 UTC

  Positive outlook for the Argentine economy according to international bank

  

  Argentine stocks are poised to a boost from a likely decline in the nation’s credit risk by year-end and the presidential elections in 2011, according to analysts from Spain’s Banco Santander, one of the leading financial institutions in Latinamerica.

• Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:53 UTC

  Piñera announces huge investments in the state-run copper industry

  

  Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has announced plans to invest 15 billion US dollars in Codelco, the state-owned copper company. Speaking to an audience of workers, managers and executives at a mine in Calama earlier this week, Piñera said the investment would bring about “a renaissance and a new youth to Codelco”.

• Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:50 UTC

  Japan in “risk of collapse” under huge debt mountain says new PM

  

  Japan is at “risk of collapse” under its huge debt mountain, the country's new prime minister has said. Naoto Kan, in his first major speech since taking over, said Japan needed a financial restructuring to avert a Greece-style crisis.