Category: News Desk

Lehman Brothers Emerges From Bankruptcy With $1.6 Billion Advisory Bill


Former US financial giants Lehman Brothers has finally exited from bankruptcy protection after its stunning collapse during the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, and will begin paying off its creditors starting from 17th April this year.

On Tuesday, the liquidators running Lehman Brothers Holdings announced that the company had finally been able to exit from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2008; and was now headed towards a “complete liquidation” of its remaining assets, valued at $65 billion, in order to pay back its creditors.

2011 Disasters Cost At Least $380B, The Costliest By Far: UN


The 2011 natural disasters, such as the twin earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, was by far the costliest, with the United Nations disaster risk reduction agency UNISDR estimating the economic cost to be at least $380 billion.

Sports Personalities Are Paid Millions, So Why Can’t We Accept Fat Corporate Paychecks?


That is the argument presented by eminent Harvard professor and the former chief IMF economist Kenneth Rogoff.

A self-confessed basketball fan, Rogoff argues that the public acceptance of fat sportsmen paychecks is in stark contrast to the hostility towards fat corporate payouts and bonuses.

Rogoff commented:

TEPCO Shareholders Demand $67 Billion From Company Executives To Compensate Fukushima Victims


Shareholders at Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) want executives at the utility company to pay out over 5.5 trillion ($67.4 bilion) back to the company, said a report by Reuters, on Monday, in order to use the money to compensate those affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year.

Cotton Prices Soar After World’s Second-Largest Producer Ban Exports


The Indian government, the world’s second largest producer of cotton behind China, has unexpectedly announced an immediate ban on all of its nation’s cotton exports – a move that has stunned the global markets and enraged shippers, sellers and growers in the country.

Infographic: Is Your Job Killing You?


According to the American Institute of Stress, occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults, with more than 40 percent of workers claiming that their jobs were excessively stressful.

EU Wants Minimum Quota For Women In Corporate Boardrooms


Too few women presently sit on the boards of public companies in the European Union, said a senior EU justice official on Sunday, as the European Commission intends to press ahead with new quotas and timetables for its member states on gender equality in the corporate boardroom.

“I think we’re slowly running out of patience everywhere in Europe,” said the EU’s justice commissioner Viviane Reding in an interview with the Guardian.

US & Israel At Odds Over Iranian Action


US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayanhu fundamentally disagreement over possible military action against Iran’s nuclear program, claimed a report by Reuters on Sunday, with the two leaders set to meet in the White House on Monday to discuss their mutual ties.

China’s CIC Receives $30 Billion Boost To Buy European Assets


The Chinese government injected close to $30 billion of new capital into the nation’s second largest sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), at the end of last year, said a senior CIC executive on Sunday, with a part of the money expected to fund new asset purchases in debt-stricken Europe.

Whistleblowing Could Reap You A Reward, Provided You Don’t Go To The FBI


As the fight against Wall Street fraud heats up, the FBI recently recruited Michael Douglas to star in its public service announcement, urging the public to report insider trading leaks to the authorities. However, this could mean that whistleblowers miss out on a potential reward simply by going to the FBI.

Michael Douglas who played the white-collar villain in Wall Street, famously said in the character of Gordon Gekko that “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”.