OECD slams tax dodgers

PARIS (AFP) ― The OECD said it would launch an initiative to help ensure that multinational corporations pay adequate tax amid criticism that global companies like Starbucks, Google and Amazon successfully escape fair levies.“An OECD study commissioned by the G20 finds that some multinationals use strategies that allow them to pay as little as 5 percent in corporate taxes when smaller businesses are paying up to 30 percent,” the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Feb. 13, 2013

ECB’s Draghi: Spain is ‘on the right track’

MADRID (AP) ― Spain has succeeded in stabilizing a banking system that almost collapsed last year and is well-positioned for better economic times going forward, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Tuesday.Draghi delivered the upbeat assessment to Spanish politicians behind closed doors in Parliament, later telling reporters that “Spain is on the right track.”The country has had to make a host of painful austerity measures and received a bailout package for its banks funded by the

Feb. 13, 2013

Obama vows to boost job creation

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama is urging a divided Congress to boost job creation and strengthen the middle class through a package of government-backed proposals.In his State of the Union address, Obama is calling for increasing the federal minimum wage, spending more to fix the nation’s roads and bridges, and expanding early childhood education.Obama says his proposals would not increase the deficit “by a single dime.” But with unemployment persistently high and consumer confidence f

Feb. 13, 2013

Heart Attack Grill enthusiast dies

The unofficial spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill died after an apparent heart attack in front of the Las Vegas restaurant, the owner says.　Jon Basso said John Alleman, whose “Patient John” caricature is on the high-calorie eatery‘s menus, suffered an apparent heart attack at a bus stop last week and was taken off life support Monday, the Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday.　Alleman, who was a daily fixture at the restaurant but was not on the payroll, was 52 years old.　“He lived a very full life,”

Feb. 13, 2013

Romania defends scandal-hit meat plants

BUCHAREST (AP) ― A maze of trading between meat wholesalers has made it increasingly difficult to trace the origins of food ― enabling horsemeat disguised as beef to be sold in frozen meals across Europe. Finger-pointing has grown by the day, involving more countries and more companies. On Monday, Romanian officials scrambled to defend two plants implicated in the scandal, saying the meat was properly declared and any fraud was committed elsewhere. France says Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cyp

Feb. 12, 2013

RBS boss defends bonus in wake of LIBOR scandal

LONDON (AFP) ― Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester defended his right to a bonus on Monday, one week after the bank was fined $612 million over LIBOR rate rigging.“I think that my bonus should be assessed on all of the things I do well and badly and judgment should be reached,” Hester told lawmakers on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.“It’s not me who makes a judgment,” he added, when questioned whether he would turn down his bonus for last year.British taxpayers own 81 p

Feb. 12, 2013

EU leaders OK reduced budget

BRUSSELS (AP) ― European Union leaders agreed Friday to a significantly reduced 7-year budget worth 960 billion euros ($1.28 trillion) ― the first cut in spending in the 27-country group’s history. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the agreement had been reached after two days of nearly round-the-clock negotiations ― the longest negotiations of his tenure in office. The final total was about 40 billion less than the European Commission had originally proposed. The issue

Feb. 11, 2013

China becomes biggest trading nation

China surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s biggest trading nation last year as measured by the sum of exports and imports of goods, official figures from both countries show. U.S. exports and imports of goods last year totaled $3.82 trillion, the U.S. Commerce Department said last week. China’s customs administration reported last month that the country’s trade in goods in 2012 amounted to $3.87 trillion. China’s growing influence in global commerce threatens to disrupt regional trading bloc

Feb. 11, 2013

RBS helped UBS’ Hayes with LIBOR bribes, regulators say

A Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc trader colluded with a counterpart at UBS AG to pay almost 211,000 pounds ($330,000) in bribes to brokers willing to help them manipulate global interest rates, regulators said. Neil Danziger, a London-based derivatives specialist at RBS, helped Tom Hayes, the former UBS employee at the center of the global investigation into rate-rigging, to bribe at least two brokers into persuading other banks to submit rates in line with their own, according to transcripts

Feb. 7, 2013

Germany unveils tough banking rules

BERLIN (AP) ― Germany wants to punish bankers who take excessive risks and require some banks to separate retail activity from riskier proprietary trading, officials said Wednesday. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the proposed measures were part of an effort to draw lessons from the 2008 financial crisis, when governments around the world had to bail out ailing banks to avoid a collapse of the international financial system. “Whoever has a chance to profit also has to bear the risk,” Sc

Feb. 7, 2013

Geithner plans book on crisis

NEW YORK (AP) ― Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will write a book focusing on his response to the financial crisis, the Associated Press has learned.Geithner, 51, will be represented by Washington-based attorney Robert Barnett, who confirmed Wednesday that Geithner would be meeting with publishers but otherwise declined comment. Barnett has negotiated deals for President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.Few treasury secretaries have attracted as m

Feb. 7, 2013

Golfer K.J. Choi wins award for charity work

South Korean PGA Tour veteran Choi Kyung-ju on Thursday was named a recipient of an award for his extensive charity work off the field.The Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) said Choi, affectionately called K.J. Choi outside of Korea, is the 2013 winner of its Charlie Bartlett Award. Named after the first secretary of the GWAA, the award recognizes professional golfers for their “contributions to the betterment of society.” Choi, 42, was acknowledged for his support for relief efforts an

Feb. 7, 2013

China promises action on income gap

BEIJING (AP) ― China’s government has issued a sweeping pledge to narrow the politically volatile gulf between its rich and poor with measures including requiring state companies to turn over more profits to pay for social programs.The pledge Tuesday promised more spending on health, education and job training but gave few details and no sign of how Beijing will enforce changes that might hurt state industry and other politically influential factions.Communist leaders have promised repeatedly to

Feb. 6, 2013

Dell buyout highlights PC sector woes

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Dell’s plan to take the computer giant private offers an opportunity to return to its start-up roots, but won’t solve the fundamental problems facing the company and the PC sector, analysts say.The Texas-based tech giant on Tuesday unveiled a $24.4 billion buyout deal giving founder Michael Dell a chance to reshape the former number one PC maker away from the spotlight of Wall Street.Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint Technologies, said Dell’s plan underscores the deep problems of

Feb. 6, 2013