The Swiss have approved a “fat-cat referendum” to limit executive pay by a crushing 68% to 32%, no great surprise perhaps given the current mood on bankers and other superrich around the globe. The referendum was the brainchild of Thomas Minder, the independent legislator who began his struggle to give shareholders in Swiss-listed companies the right to control the pay of executives and board members in 2006.
Britain was left isolated in Europe on Tuesday after it failed to secure backing to water down new EU rules limiting bankers' bonuses, a measure that could threaten London's dominance as a financial centre.
By Harold Briley - Circuited well in advance of their historic referendum on their future, a booklet voicing the views of the post-invasion generation of Islanders is a vital part of the new Falkland Islands campaign to explain their case internationally. In this contribution to the referendum debate, MercoPress takes a more comprehensive look at their attitudes.
Singapore wealth fund Temasak has bought a 5% stake in Spanish oil group Repsol for just over one billion Euros, raising its total stake in the company to 6.3%, Repsol said in a release. The operation involves the entire portfolio of Repsol treasury stock at 16.01 Euros per share for a total of 1.036 billion Euros (1.35bn dollars).
The UK Financial Services Authority repeatedly failed to act on warnings that banks were trying to rig inter-bank lending rates (mainly Libor) at height of the financial crisis, according to an internal review published Tuesday by the regulator.
Japan’s declining appetite for whale meat is nothing new; but is the country also losing patience with its whaling industry? The answer apparently is yes, according to a new report that highlights the huge cost to the Japanese taxpayer of sustaining its whaling fleet. Without government subsidies, the industry would collapse, it said.
Spain’s Pescanova SA (PVA), Europe’s second- biggest fish processor, plunged 60% after it started the initial phase of seeking creditors’ protection and delayed results pending asset sales and a debt renegotiation.
After several years of negotiations, countries have taken a major step against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), one of the greatest threats to sustainable fisheries and related livelihoods.
The Globe and Mail (*) editorial published Sunday, March - As a country that with some justice prides itself as a global beacon for democracy, the United States should abandon its equivocation over the status of the Falkland Islands and agree to throw its considerable weight behind the winner of the referendum asking Islanders whether they wish to remain a UK overseas territory.
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest billionaires for a fourth year. The magazine estimates that Mr Slim, whose business interests range from telecommunications to construction, is worth 73bn dollars.