Archives
Oil hits five and a half year low under $55 on supply glut
January 5th, 2015
Oil prices dropped to fresh 5-1/2-year lows on Monday on worries about a surplus of global supplies and lackluster demand. Russia’s oil output hit a post-Soviet high last year, averaging 10.58 million barrels per day (bpd), up 0.7 percent ...
Bitcoin Review: Bitcoin’s New Year Starts With a Crash
January 5th, 2015
Bitcoin‘s price crashed over the weekend, losing $51 over two days. It opened on Saturday at $314.59 and closed Sunday at $263.63, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index. The plunging price got market watchers chattering as Sunday drew to ...
HSBC, Hong Kong Under Scanner As US Steps Up Investigation Of American Tax Frauds
January 5th, 2015
HSBC Holdings and the city of Hong Kong, which were last month linked to an international tax evasion network, are currently under scrutiny as part of efforts by U.S. authorities to hunt down American tax evaders, the South China ...
FINMA: Switzerland Completes Financial Services Regulator Review
January 5th, 2015
The Swiss Federal Council has concluded that there is no fundamental need for comprehensive reform of the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINAMA), but has identified what it says are isolated areas where there is room for improvement. FINMA is ...
Bank Pays $400m Fine For Aiding US Tax Evasion
January 5th, 2015
A leading Israeli bank has agreed to pay the US government $400 million compensation for helping US customers evade tax. Bank Leumi confessed to advising 1,500 wealthy Americans how to evade taxes over several years. The bank ran secret ...
Australian dollar hits five-year low, fetching 80.53 US cents
January 5th, 2015
The Australian dollar has plummeted to its lowest level in five-and-a-half years. At noon today, the local currency was trading at 80.95 US cents, down from 81.37 cents on Friday. The Australian dollar briefly dipped as low as 80.53 US ...
Alibaba Competitor Wanda E-commerce Raises $161M At $3B Valuation
January 5th, 2015
China-based Wanda E-commerce, which hopes to position itself as a rival against Alibaba, has raised one billion RMB (about $161 million) in funding from investment funds Centec Networks and Xude Rendao. Wanda E-commerce says this quadruples its valuation to 20 billion ...
General election top concern for UK companies in 2015
January 5th, 2015
Political uncertainty ahead of May’s general election and the weakening eurozone economy are hitting confidence across British businesses. Two surveys on Monday show that firms began the new year fretting about domestic political upheaval and the possibility that geopolitical ...
Euro Extends Slide on ECB Outlook; Asian Stocks, Oil Slip
January 5th, 2015
The euro weakened to an almost nine-year low and Asian stocks fell amid concern Greece will exit the European currency union. Oil slumped to its lowest level since 2009, while silver and Chinese shares climbed. The euro depreciated 0.5 percent to ...
Snapchat reveals $485m of funding at a reported $10bn valuation
January 2nd, 2015
Messaging app Snapchat has raised its latest round of funding, $485.6m, which may value the US-based company at more than $10bn. The funding was revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with 23 investors ...
