Author: lbostgadmin
UBS explains huge subprime losses
ZURICH, April 21, 2008 (AFP) – Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS said Monday that weak risk control and a pay structure that invited risky deals were among key factors leading to its massive subprime-related losses.A 50-page report to shareholders, a summary of a document the bank submitted earlier to the Federal Banking Commission, set out the […]
Bank of England prints 50 billion pounds against housing paper
LONDON, April 21, 2008 (AFP) – The Bank of England announced a 50-billion-pound plan on Monday to free up Britain’s home loan market in one of the biggest moves by a major central bank to combat the global credit crunch.The British central bank said it would allow high street banks to swap mortgage-backed securities for […]
‘s territory: minister
SYDNEY, April 21, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s territory has expanded by an area five times the size of France after the UN agreed to its jurisdiction over a massive amount of seabed, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said Monday. The United Nations’ decision to extend the country’s borders south, west and east to include a further […]
No Fixing
April 21, 2008 9LBO) A European Union directive to abolish shipping line ‘conferences’ or cartels by October should lead to more competition and enable shippers to get a better deal, Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council officials said. SLSC president Ananda Wijayasuriya said lines will in future not be able to fix prices but negotiate contracts of […]
Sri Lanka Telecom dominate Colombo share trading
April 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed lower Monday but turnover soared to over 3.5 billion rupees on several crossings of Sri Lanka Telecom and trades in Hotel Services (Ceylon), which owns a city hotel, brokers said. The All Share Price Index fell 8.90 points (0.33 percent) to 2,662.93 while the more liquid […]
Sri Lanka price controls disrupt rice market: reports
April 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Zimbabwe-style price controls on rice have started to disrupt supplies threatening to turn what was simply a steep spike in domestic rice prices into a full blown crisis with actual rice ‘shortages’. . Last July Zimbabwe, a country with a history of money printing and 100,000 percent inflation […]
Sri Lanka rice price controls temporary: minister
April 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s price controls are temporary, until foreign rice stocks arrive at the end of the month and prices fall towards ceilings imposed by the government, a senior minister said. “Rangoon rice will arrive in Sri Lanka before the end of the month, then prices will fall,” consumer affairs minister […]
” against torch protesters on Everest
KATHMANDU, April 20, 2008 (AFP) – Authorities in Nepal said Sunday they had deployed security forces on their side of Mount Everest and could use gunfire against pro-Tibet protesters when China takes the Olympic torch to the summit.Nepal has been under pressure from Beijing to seal off the world’s highest peak for next month’s stages […]
Iran criticized for money printing amid 18-pct inflation
TEHRAN, April 19, 2008 (AFP) – Three of Iran’s top clerics have criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his handling of the economy, which is currently battling 18 percent inflation, the press reported Saturday. “We shift problems and faults onto others and in order to say we are innocent we blame others,” Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavikani, […]
Oil multinationals of old admit powerless to influence prices
ROME, April 20, 2008 (AFP) – Oil-consuming countries and international oil producers acknowledged Sunday they can no longer influence oil prices, as a global gathering of the energy elite got underway in Rome.“In the 1970s, international oil companies (IOCs) controlled nearly 75 percent of global oil reserves and 80 percent of oil production,” said Paolo […]
Sri Lanka Janashakthi, Kayjay in home security insurance deal
April 20, 2008 (LBO) – Insurers have been collaborating with banks to sell their services for years, but a tie up with a security firm looking after daytime-unoccupied homes is gaining a lot of interest.. People are getting busier and there is more work pressure and more females are also working so most of the […]
Sri Lanka jets bomb Tiger flotillas: military
April 20, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed a flotilla of fast boats operated by Tamil Tiger rebels off the island’s north-eastern waters, the defence ministry said Sunday.. Aircraft carried out the bombing raid in the seas off Mullaitivu on Saturday evening after spy planes spotted the rebel boat formation, the ministry said […]