Switzerland’s biggest lender by assets, UBS AG, announced on Tuesday a 76 percent fall year-on-year in net profits for the fourth quarter of 2011 in the wake of its $2bn rogue trading scandal last year. Figures fell to SFr393m for the quarter compared to a SFR1.66bn a year earlier, and were below analyst’s average estimates…
The Chinese government on Monday announced it has prohibited state-owned airlines from paying EU-imposed charges on carbon emissions. The move by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which is the globe’s fastest growing aviation market, is said to trigger a dispute about the cost of combating climate change. Fitch warned in December that this clash…
The US Justice Department late on Thursday announced it had filed criminal charges against Wegelin & Co, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, for purportedly helping wealthy US citizens evade taxes between 2002 and 2011. It is alleged that the 271 year old bank conspired together with US taxpayers and other parties to conceal $1.2bn in secret…
The globe’s biggest listed commodities trader, Glencore International, and Anglo Swiss mining giant Xstrata, on Thursday announced they are in talks about a possible merger. The mining group said that it was “not certain” whether the talks would “lead to an offer being made by Glencore for Xstrata.” Glencore, which already owns a 35 percent…
French defence supplier Dassault Aviation has been chosen as India’s preferred bidder in an eagerly contested $20bn race to provide 126 fighter jets to India. The Dassault Rafale fighter jet was named the lowest priced compliant bidder ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon which is produced by the UK’s BAE Systems. Through this deal the French…
After a decade at the helm the governor of New Zealand’s Reserve bank, Alan Bollard, on Monday announced he is to step down in September after deciding not to seek a third term in office. The move comes as the country is preparing for a large-scale privatisation programme that involves the sale of stakes in…
Swiss engineering giant ABB on Monday said it is buying US electrical equipment manufacturer Thomas & Betts in a $3.9bn cash transaction. The world’s largest producer of power and automation technologies offered $72 a share in cash for the Tennessee-based company. The acquisition will provide ABB access to Thomas & Betts network of over 6,000…
UK Prime Minister David Cameron late on Thursday launched an attack on his European counterparts at the World Economic Forum about their planned transaction tax “madness.” Cameron said the introduction of such a tax could cost half a million jobs and cut Europe’s economic output by around €200bn. He also risked upsetting relations with Germany…
Swiss drug giant Roche Holding on Wednesday made a hostile $5.7bn bid for DNA diagnostics company Illumina. Roche had previously attempted “multiple efforts” to start negotiations but Illumina refused to enter into “substantive discussion,” the company said. The offering of $44.50 a share represents an 18 percent premium over Illumina’s closing price per share on…
The Bank of Japan on Tuesday slashed its growth forecast for the current fiscal year, citing as reasons the appreciation of the yen, the upshot of a slowdown in overseas economies and declining post earthquake reconstruction spending. The bank’s governor Masaaki Shirakawa and the board reduced the economic forecast to two percent from an earlier…
