November 20, 2012
HP: Autonomy lied about finances
Computer maker Hewlett Packard has asked US and UK authorities to investigate alleged misrepresentations before its takeover of UK software group Autonomy last year. This led to a $5bn (£3.1bn) charge in its latest quarterly accounts. HP said it was…
November 20, 2012
Greece: Eurozone ministers to make crunch decision
Eurozone finance ministers meet later to decide whether to release the next 33bn euros ($42bn; £27bn) of bailout cash needed by Greece to stay afloat. On the agenda will be a two-year delay to Greece's austerity programme, how to meet the country's…
November 20, 2012
UBS trader Kweku Adoboli guilty of fraud over £1.4bn loss
A City trader who lost £1.4bn ($2.2bn) of Swiss bank UBS's money has been found guilty of one count of fraud. Kweku Adoboli, 32, of Whitechapel, east London, denied four charges of false accounting and two of fraud between October 2008 and September…
November 20, 2012
IMF hails Dominican Republic’s tax reform, warns of slumping economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday said the recently passed tax reform will contribute to make Dominican Republic economy less vulnerable, but cautioned that the economic performance has deteriorated and the private sector’s activity…
November 20, 2012
Total sells Nigeria Offshore Oil stake for $2.5B
French oil company Total SA said yesterday it had sold its stake in an offshore oil field near Nigeria for US$2.5 billion to China’s state-run firm Sinopec Corp, a sign of the growing Chinese thirst for the West African nation’s oil production.…
November 16, 2012
Japan averts ‘fiscal-cliff’ as it passes financing bill
Japan's lawmakers have approved a crucial bill that will ensure that the government does not run out of money at the end of this month. It will allow the government to borrow additional money by selling bonds to pay for a large chunk of its…
November 16, 2012
Bernanke blames banks for holding back housing market
Ben Bernanke has said that the overly stringent lending requirements of banks are hurting the US housing recovery. In a speech, he said the housing market showed signs of recovery but was "far from being out of the woods". The Federal Reserve…
November 16, 2012
US Postal Service in $16bn loss
The US Postal Service has reported an annual loss of a $15.9bn (£10bn), ending a year in which it defaulted on payments twice to avert bankruptcy. Its financial losses were more than triple the previous year's. Most of the mail agency's financial…
November 16, 2012
Dell’s profits slump by 47% on weak sales
Computer-maker Dell has seen its quarterly profit fall by 47% after it was hit by falling sales to both consumers and large companies. The US group made a net profit of $475m (£300m) in July to September, compared with $893m a year earlier. Dell's…
November 16, 2012
BP gets record US criminal fine over Deepwater disaster
BP has received the biggest criminal fine in US history as part of a $4.5bn (£2.8bn) settlement related to the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Two BP workers have been indicted on manslaughter charges and an ex-manager charged with misleading…