Category: World

WASHINGTON, September 18, 2008 (AFP) – Reports that the US government is preparing the creation of a new entity to rescue troubled financial firms lifted Wall Street Thursday and raised hopes for an end to the credit crisis. US President George W. Bush huddled with the head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and his […]

LONDON, September 19, 2008 (AFP) – Global equity markets soared on Friday, lifted by mammoth share price gains for banks, as governments worldwide stepped up their fight against the worst financial crisis in decades, traders said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The US government […]

LONDON, September 18, 2008 (AFP) – When Edouard d’Archimbaud, 24, arrived at Lehman Brothers offices in London on Monday he was hoping his move to the British capital would hail the start of a lucrative career in finance. Sadly, it was not to be. The young Parisian, who had struggled to arrive in time for […]

NEW YORK, September 18, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve on Thursday threw 180 billion dollars into a global fight against the financial crisis as Wall Street legend Morgan Stanley became the latest name under attack and Britain’s top mortgage lender was forced into a merger.China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, already owns […]

LONDON, September 18, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices extended gains on Thursday as the dollar fell following a coordinated plan by major central banks around the world to boost liquidity amid a credit crunch. “The coordinated move by central banks has seen the dollar sold off and has sparked some interest in the dollar denominated […]

TOKYO, September 18, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar fell further in Asian trade Thursday as the US bailout of insurer AIG failed to quell market fears that more victims could emerge from the credit crisis, dealers said. The dollar traded narrowly, changing hands at 104.77 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 104.91 in New York […]

LONDON, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – The global financial firestorm claimed a fresh victim Wednesday as top British mortgage lender HBOS said it was in takeover talks after a huge US bailout of insurer AIG helped underpin volatile share prices. “In the light of market speculation, the Board of HBOS plc confirms that it is […]

NEW YORK, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar rallied against the other main currencies Tuesday after the Federal Reserve surprised the market by holding interest rates steady and defied expectations of a rate cut. The Fed decision to hold its base lending rate at 2.0 percent in the face of panic on the world […]

LONDON, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – Barclays said Wednesday it had reached a deal to acquire the North American investment banking and capital markets businesses of beleaguered US investment giant Lehman Brothers for 1.75 billion dollars. The bank said it would acquire trading assets with an estimated value of 72 billion dollars (40 billion pounds, […]

JEDDAH, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – Finance chiefs of oil-rich Gulf states on Wednesday approved proposals to set up a monetary council and a charter for a monetary union, the Arab bloc’s secretary general said. Finance and economy ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council approved the monetary union charter and the council’s bylaws during […]

TOKYO, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan on Tuesday injected 1.5 trillion yen (14.4 billion dollars) into money markets in a bid to contain market turmoil after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers. The central bank said on its website that it injected the sum onto the open markets at […]

NEW YORK, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – Struggling US insurance giant American International Group was thrown a life-line Monday by New York authorities, who said the company could borrow some 20 billion dollars from its subsidiaries. New York Governor David Paterson said he had called on regulators “to provide the authorization, such that AIG can […]