The Korea Herald

Pollution forces cars off road in Paris

Mar 17, 2014

PARIS (AFP) ― Thousands of cars will be banned from Parisian roads on Monday as the city tries to curb dangerous pollution levels by introducing alternate driving days for the first time in nearly two decades. The radical move will see around 700 police officers deployed to man 60 checkpoints around the French capital to ensure that only cars with number plates ending in odd numbers are out on the streets.Parking will be free on Monday for vehicles with even number plates, the Paris city hall sa
Markets take in stride Crimea vote to join Russia

Mar 17, 2014

Confirmation that the people of the Ukrainian region of Crimea have voted to join Russia caused barely a ripple in financial markets Monday, partly because the verdict had been widely discounted.Worries that the Crimea issue might prompt an escalation in tensions between Russia and Western powers have driven financial markets over the past few weeks. In the run-up to Sunday’s referendum, many stock markets around the world hit multi-week lows while `safe haven’ investments such as the Japanese y
Vodafone wins $10 billion deal to buy Spain’s Ono

Mar 17, 2014

Vodafone Group Plc agreed to buy Spanish cable operator Grupo Corporativo Ono SA for 7.2 billion euros ($10 billion) to boost its offerings in television and broadband Internet, people familiar with the matter said. The deal, which has been signed and will be announced as early as Monday, may generate synergies valued at about 2.8 billion euros, said one of the people, asking not to be named because the financial details are confidential. Preempting a planned initial public offering approved by
DBS Bank to buy Societe Generale’s Asian business

Mar 17, 2014

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― Singapore’s DBS Bank said Monday it had agreed to buy the Asian private banking business of French lender Societe Generale in a deal worth $220 million, boosting its access to the region’s super rich.DBS said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange that the deal “will accelerate DBS’s ambition of becoming a leading wealth manager in Asia.”The acquisition comes at a time of growing competition to manage the wealth of Asia’s growing ranks of millionaires and billionaires, known
Toyota suspends Indian auto production on wage impasse

Mar 17, 2014

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, said it’s suspending production in India after an impasse with union workers over wages led to output disruptions and threats to plant managers.Toyota has called a lockout at its facilities near Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, after a breakdown in negotiations that began last year, the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said in an emailed statement.“The company is left with no other option but to declare a lockout to ensure the safety of
China to spend over $163 billion redeveloping shantytowns

Mar 17, 2014

China will invest more than 1 trillion yuan ($163 billion) redeveloping shantytowns this year as the government promotes urbanization as an engine of growth, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. The nation will redevelop shantytowns involving more than 4.75 million households this year, CCTV reported Sunday, citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. China will promote fiscal and financial reforms that support urbanization, it said, citing a plan for 2014 to
Abu Dhabi extends period of $20b loans to Dubai

Mar 17, 2014

DUBAI (AFP) ― Oil-rich Abu Dhabi and the UAE central bank agreed Sunday to roll over $20 billion in loans to neighboring debt-laden Dubai after it was hit by the 2009 global financial crisis.The government of Abu Dhabi agreed to roll over a loan of $10 billion for a renewable five years, the state news agency WAM reported.The Abu Dhabi-based central bank of the UAE federation at the same time renewed subscription to Dubai bonds worth $10 billion for five years, it said.The loans, that were due t
Weibo files for U.S. stock offering

Mar 16, 2014

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Weibo Corp., the Chinese microblogging service often compared with Twitter, filed Friday for a U.S. stock offering seeking to raise $500 million.The move will allow the popular Chinese-language social network to spin off from the Internet giant Sina, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The filing said Weibo had 129.1 million monthly active users in December and 61.4 million average daily active users. The company did not indicate whether
U.S. to cede control of key Internet body

Mar 16, 2014

Government will relinquish control of Internet address system in long-planned move
China doubles yuan trading band

Mar 16, 2014

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s central bank on Saturday doubled the yuan’s trading band to 2 percent, loosening its grip on the tightly-controlled currency and underscoring efforts to accelerate exchange-rate reforms as concerns mount over the slowing economy.The move will take effect on March 17, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement, and follows years of international pressure on Beijing to allow faster yuan appreciation.The change, which follows Beijing’s landmark move in April 2012 to doub
U.S. sues major banks over LIBOR

Mar 16, 2014

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sued HSBC, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and 12 other global banking heavyweights on Friday for manipulating the LIBOR benchmark interest rate.The manipulation caused “substantial losses” to 38 U.S. banks that were shut down due to insolvency during and after the 2008 financial crisis, according to the FDIC.The regulator said the accused institutions cheated the closed banks in U.S. dollar-based LIBOR swaps and other agreements through t
Fed’s Yellen seen to stick to taper path

Mar 16, 2014

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― New Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen is expected to stick to the game plan when she chairs her first monetary policy meeting this week, further cutting back economic stimulus.But, six weeks after inheriting Ben Bernanke’s mantle, she is also under the gun to make a pivot in the way the Fed has been signaling its intentions.Handled well, that delicate shift in how the Fed foreshadows an eventual rate hike could assuage markets. But communicated badly, it could result in volat
Iraqi bill to legalize child marriage criticized

Mar 16, 2014

BAGHDAD (AP) ― A contentious draft law being considered in Iraq could open the door to girls as young as 9 getting married and would require wives to submit to sex on their husband’s whim, provoking outrage from rights activists and many Iraqis who see it as a step backward for women’s rights. The measure, aimed at creating different laws for Iraq’s majority Shiite population, could further fray the country’s divisions amid some of the worst bloodshed since the sectarian fighting that nearly rip
BofA, Citigroup, Credit Suisse sued by FDIC over Libor rigging

Mar 15, 2014

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG were among 16 of the world’s biggest banks sued by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate from 2007 to 2011.The FDIC, acting as receiver for 38 failed banks including Washington Mutual Bank, IndyMac Bank FSB and Colonial Bank, claimed that institutions sitting on the U.S. dollar Libor panel “fraudulently and collusively suppressed” the rate. Also named in the suit, file
Cash abroad rises $206b as Apple to IBM avoid taxes

Mar 13, 2014

The largest U.S.-based companies added $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to.The multinational companies have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the U.S., up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to securities filings from 307 corporations reviewed by Bloomberg. Three U.S.-based companies ― Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. ― added $37.5 billion, or