Lending News
World Bank president plans to leave in June
Linda Young – AHN News Writer Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – World Bank President Robert Zoellick plans to leave his post after five years when his term expired on June 30. Zoellick began his term under President George W. Bus. He previously served the Bush administration as deputy secretary of state and U.S. Trade [...]
Anti-austerity strike halts trains, disrupts flights in Belgium,
Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer Brussels, Belgium (AHN) – A nationwide strike in Belgium greeted EU leaders meeting in a summit in Brussels on Monday as international trains were not in service and some flights at the capital’s international airport cancelled and delayed. The high-speed international train services of Eurostar from London and [...]
Supreme Court tax case to determine extent of IRS enforcement authority
Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Supreme Court plans to issue a ruling in a corporate tax shelter case this spring at a time of uncertainty in the tax laws. Some tax breaks for individuals and corporations are scheduled to expire next month but Congress is [...]
Supreme Court tax case to determine extent of IRS enforcement authority
Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Supreme Court plans to issue a ruling in a corporate tax shelter case this spring at a time of uncertainty in the tax laws. Some tax breaks for individuals and corporations are scheduled to expire next month but Congress is [...]
Top European banks stand pat on key interest rates
Linda Young – AHN News Writer London, United Kingdom (AHN) – The European Central Bank met Thursday and kept its key interest rate unchanged at 1.0 percent. ECB officials made the decision after cutting rates for the previous two months in an effort to boost growth in the eurozone. They mentioned continued high uncertainty in [...]
China, Japan agree on direct yuan, yen trade
Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer Beijing, China (AHN) – The governments of China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, announced Monday an agreement to directly trade in yuan and yen instead of converting their currencies first to dollars. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also agreed during [...]
U.S. agency selects Nepal as eligible aid recipient
Anil Giri – AHN News Correspondent Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Nepal has been selected as eligible for the threshold program of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States aid agency established to help fight global poverty. An MCC board meeting chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week found Nepal eligible to [...]
Fixed mortgage rates stay low
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed near its record low for the sixth consecutive week. But, the historically low rates have done little to goose the ailing housing market. On Thursday, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said the rate on [...]
Rajaratnam reports to prison
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Devens, MA, United States (AHN) – Former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam reported to prison Monday to begin serving an 11-year sentence. The Galleon Group founder and manager was convicted of insider trading in May on 14 counts of conspiracy and fraud, in what is one of the biggest [...]
Plunging Foreign Reserves Pose New Threat to Egypt
The Media Line Staff Cairo, Egypt (The Media Line) – Egypt’s political and economic clocks are running on dangerously different speeds: While Egyptians make repeat visits to the polls over the next three months to elect a new government and debate the future of their country under Islamist rule, the country’s foreign currency reserves are [...]
