Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Thursday urged the Indian government to invest more in fast-speed Internet connectivity across the country, highlighting that just 20 million users had access to high-speed broadband – out of an estimated 130 million Internet subscribers in a population of 1.2 billion people.
Bankers in Europe will have one final bonus payout before they are barred from awarding themselves bonuses bigger than their salaries, EU officials said on Wednesday.
The rules, part of a wider reform of capital regulation for banks, would hold banks to a 1:1 bonus to salary ratio, with the possibility of being raised to 2:1 if shareholders consent.
“A deal is done,” confirmed one official who attended the negotiations.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would keep its stimulus policies in place until it is convinced that recent gains and improvements in the economy can be sustained organically without assistance from policymakers.
In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed said it would leave the pace of asset purchases unchanged at $85 billion a month, until it sees signs of a long-term improvement in unemployment levels.
Greek citizens and politicians on Wednesday praised the Cypriot parliament for standing up to its foreign lenders’ demands, with the government also set to lead a takeover of local units of Cypriot banks in order to shield the Greek economy from any repercussions, reported the Greek Reporter.
China’s Suntech Power, once the world’s largest solar panel producer, has been forced by its creditors to file for bankruptcy, reported Xinhua on Wednesday, after accumulating more than $2 billion in debt and defaulting on $541 million in bonds that were due on March 15.
The European Union has reached a deal on the legal framework for a centralised banking supervisor that will have the power to directly bailout troubled banks.
Under the deal, the so-called Single Supervisory Mechanism would receive sweeping powers to supervise some 6,000 banks throughout the eurozone, as well as in other European countries that chose to join the supervision scheme.
Chinese regulators appear to have issued a warning to North Korean banks, cautioning them to operate within their legal boundaries or risk harsh penalties from Beijing.
According to a report by Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, Tanchon Commercial Bank, Korea Kwangson Banking Corp, Korea Daesong Bank and Golden Triangle Bank have received notices from the China Banking Regulatory Commission ordering them to conduct business according to their permits.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, will begin exploratory drilling for shale gas sometime this year, said Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi on Monday, with some estimates placing the kingdom’s shale gas reserves at more than double its conventional gas reserves.
Cyprus lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly against the bailout deal offered by the European Union and the IMF last Saturday, with one Member of Parliament denouncing the measures as “blackmail”, while not a single vote was cast in its favour.
The parliamentary session ended with 36 MPs voting against the bill, while the remaining lawmakers abstained. At the heart of the opposition was a controversial levy of at least 6.75 percent that would be slapped on all bank deposits across the island, including a 9.9 percent charge for deposits above 100,000 euros.
Apple could increase its dividend payout by more than 50 percent to $16 billion this year, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The technology company, which announced its first dividend a year ago this week, is expected to cave in to growing pressure from Wall Street and activist shareholders who are asking it to pay out a bigger piece of its $137 billion cash pile.
