Economy

Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
UK November retail inflation drops to 4.1%; deflation fears

United Kingdom consumer price index fell to 4.1% in November from 4.5% in October. As a result, the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King wrote his third letter of the year to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, explaining why inflation was so far above its target level (2%) and what the Monetary Policy Committee was planning to do to bring it back down again.
Monday, December 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Major world banks caught in Madoff's hedge fund con

Some of the world's biggest banks have revealed they are victims of an alleged fraud which has lost 50 billion US dollars. Bernard Madoff, who was arrested on Thursday, has been charged with fraud in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever such cases.
Monday, December 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Siemens admits bribery payments and is fined 1.4 b. USD

Electronics giant Siemens AG has agreed on Monday to pay 1.4 billion US dollars to US and German authorities after the company allegedly engaged in bribery, the SEC said in a release.
Sunday, December 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Development of energy industry boosts Magallanes

The discovery and exploitation of new oil and gas wells in the extreme south of Chile has generated a boom for the Magallanes Region which is creating a significant demand for technicians and specialized labour.
Sunday, December 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Wall Street hedge fund con: where are the US regulators?

A firm that counted itself a client of a broker accused of a 50 billion US dollars Wall Street con has criticised US regulators for what it says are “systemic failures”. Bramdean Alternatives said the charges against Bernard Madoff raised “fundamental questions” about the American financial regulatory system.
Friday, December 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Ecuador defaults on bonds; promised restructure

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has ordered halting payment on foreign bonds he calls “illegal” and “illegitimate”. If this is the case it would be Ecuador's second default in a decade.
Friday, December 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Bush, Obama support emergency aid for US car industry

The outgoing George Bush administration said it may be willing to give emergency aid to the ailing US car industry, keeping open the prospects for a bailout the day after Congress failed to approve a deal.
Friday, December 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
WTO admits not enough consensus for world trade talks

World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy has abandoned attempts to restart the world trade talks. Lamy told ambassadors in Geneva that he has decided there was not sufficient consensus among major economies to call new ministerial talks on a trade deal.
Friday, December 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Ex Nasdaq chairman fraud could trigger hedge funds-run

The former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market has been arrested and charged with securities fraud, in what may be one of the biggest fraud cases yet. Bernard Madoff ran a hedge fund which ran up 50 billion US dollars of fraudulent losses and which he called “one big lie”, prosecutors allege.
Thursday, December 11th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Obama transition team supports call for Latam free trade

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Latinamerica to continue fighting poverty and avoid the temptation of closing off trade. Rice said on Wednesday countries should not “repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression when nations deepened that crisis by turning inward”.