September 7, 2012
The North Atlantic hurricane season runs from mid-August to October, with a strong peak in storm activity around the middle of September. A less familiar but even more destructive pattern of disturbances is the financial hurricane season, which coincides with …
August 30, 2012
Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay $590 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets, one of the largest settlements stemming from the global financial crisis. The agreement resolves claims …
August 14, 2012
The euro zone economy narrowly skirted recession in the first half of the year, but austerity programs across the region and a debt crisis weighing ever more heavily on its periphery suggest the reprieve will be short-lived. Gross domestic product …
August 1, 2012
Leading European banks reported dismal profits on Tuesday, blaming everything from the continent’s debt crisis and Spain’s property market crash to Facebook’s disastrous stock market debut. Within a space of an hour UBS of Switzerland, Deutsche Bank, BBVA of Spain …
July 26, 2012
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged on Thursday to do whatever was necessary to protect the euro zone from collapse, sending a strong signal that inflated Spanish and Italian borrowing costs were in his sights. Fears about the euro …
July 10, 2012
Signs are growing that Europe’s economic and monetary union may be fragmenting faster than policymakers can repair it. Euro zone leaders agreed in principle on June 29 to establish a joint banking supervisor for the 17-nation single currency area, based …
June 28, 2012
EU leaders go into a Brussels meeting today, Thursday June 28, more openly divided than at any time since the euro crisis began, with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel showing no sign of relenting in her refusal to back other countries’ …
June 19, 2012
Greece’s election has averted the immediate threat of a euro break-up, but it does nothing to restore the magic ingredient missing in the European and global economies – confidence. Investors and corporate executives are paid to calculate risk. But they …
June 15, 2012
The Lloyds’s Market Association (LMA) has joined central banks and other financial instiutions in preparing for a possible euro zone exit. It has issued a “note” giving insurers and brokers guidance on what they should be prepared to do in …
June 12, 2012
Tightening fiscal integration in the euro zone and surrendering more sovereignty in the name of deeper cooperation between member states may be possible only in the medium term, the EU’s top economic official said on Monday, dampening expectations of a …