The Korea Herald

Creditors protest Detroit bankruptcy

Aug 20, 2013

DETROIT (AP) ― The city’s biggest employee union, retirees and even a few dozen residents filed objections Monday to Detroit’s request for bankruptcy protection, the largest municipal filing in U.S. history and a move aimed at wiping away billions of dollars in debt. The filing by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Michigan Council 25 also came before expected objections from two city pension systems, bondholders, banks and others who hope to convince federal Judge St
Big banks must improve financial cushions: Fed

Aug 20, 2013

U.S. president wants to make sure his economic recovery doesn’t generate the next financial bubble
Japan trade deficit worsens Japan trade deficit worsens on back of weak yen

Aug 19, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s trade deficit nearly doubled last month as a weaker yen sent the country’s energy import bill soaring, despite a brightening export picture, official data showed Monday.The finance ministry reported a bigger-than-expected deficit of 1.024 trillion yen ($10.5 billion) for July, from 528.55 billion yen in 2012.That was the 13th straight month of shortfalls in what is the longest deficit spell in more than three decades.The gap came even as the value of exports jumped 12.2 per
GM recalls 293,000 Cruzes

Aug 18, 2013

DETROIT (AP) ― General Motors Co. is recalling nearly 293,000 Chevrolet Cruze compact cars in the U.S. because the power-assisted brakes can fail. The recall affects Cruzes made in Lordstown, Ohio, from the 2011 and 2012 model years that are equipped with 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engines and 6T-40 six-speed automatic transmissions, the company said Friday. It’s the eighth recall of the car since it was introduced in September of 2010, according to records compiled by the National Highway
EU seeks WTO ruling on Chinese steel duties

Aug 18, 2013

BEIJING (AP) ― The European Union on Friday asked the World Trade Organization to rule in a dispute over Chinese anti-dumping duties imposed on steel pipes imported from EU countries. The EU said in a news release that it made the request to the WTO after unsuccessful consultations in July to resolve the dispute over the duties imposed by China on imports of high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes from EU countries. “The EU continues its fight against unjustified Chinese trade defense me
SEC OKs $8b sale of NYSE parent to ICE

Aug 18, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) ― U.S. regulators have approved the proposed $8 billion sale of the venerable New York Stock Exchange to a much younger futures exchange. The deal is a symbol of how financial markets are being increasingly reshaped by high technology. The Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed Friday that it’s authorized the takeover of the two-centuries-old NYSE’s parent by Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, or ICE. The rival acquiring company, founded in 2000, has expanded rapidly t
Swiss central bank fund pays off UBS rescue

Aug 18, 2013

ZURICH (AFP) ― The Swiss National Bank said on Friday that a massive loan to rescue UBS bank during the financial crisis had been paid off and UBS could now repurchase its once toxic assets.SNB said its so-called stabilizations fund, or StabFund, had by Thursday completely paid off the last portion of a $25.8 billion loan issued in 2008 to save UBS, which was among the global banks hardest hit by the crisis.The completion of the final payment of 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion) means that
Fed’s Fisher says bond yields rising

Aug 18, 2013

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Richard Fisher, one of the Fed’s most vocal critics of bond purchases by the central bank, said government bond yields are rising amid recognition the buying will eventually end. The Fed should taper purchases next month if economic reports remain favorable, Fisher said, adding employment is picking up and “the housing market has turned.” U.S. companies “are lean and mean and ready to go” with stronger balance sheets, Fisher said Friday in a television in
U.S. builders started work on more homes in July

Aug 16, 2013

U.S. developers started work on new homes at a faster pace in July, partly reversing a sharp drop the previous month. The figures suggest that housing construction is maintaining its recovery.The Commerce Department says builders began work last month on houses and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 896,000. That was up 6 percent from June, though below a recent peak of just over 1 million in March. Construction began on 26 percent more apartments, a volatile category, but 2.2 pe
Facebook to challenge PayPal with mobile payment system

Aug 16, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― Facebook plans to test a mobile payments service that lets users make purchases inside mobile applications using payment information they have added to their account on the social network. Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it is working on a “very small test” and the company says there is no set schedule for making the service available to users. The service would use payment information that shoppers store on Facebook to automatically complete checkout forms of certain mobile app
Cayman, U.S. reach pact to fight tax evasion

Aug 16, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) ― The Cayman Islands says it has reached agreement with the United States to provide information on accounts held by American citizens to comply with a sweeping U.S. law designed to combat tax evasion. The British Caribbean territory, considered the world’s sixth largest financial center and a major haven for mutual funds and private equity, said the texts of the new pacts will be made public once an official signing ceremony is held. The Cayman government said the pacts a
Uncertainty awaits airline sector if U.S. merger blocked

Aug 15, 2013

DALLAS (AP) ― The merger between American Airlines and US Airways was supposed to cap an era of consolidation that helped the airline industry return to profitability. And it would produce a stronger competitor to giants United and Delta. Now a government lawsuit to block the merger has put both of those expectations in doubt. If American cannot grow by merging, it could decide to add flights to better compete with larger rivals. Doing so would likely reduce airfares ― and profit margins ― acros
Cisco to cut 4,000 jobs

Aug 15, 2013

NEW YORK CITY (AFP) ― Information technology giant Cisco announced Wednesday that it will cut 4,000 jobs, equal to five percent of its workforce.Cisco executives said the cuts were necessitated by a weaker-than-expected economic recovery, with conditions especially disappointing in emerging markets.The “economic recovery is slower and more inconsistent,” chief executive John Chambers told analysts.While the U.S. market has been getting better, that improvement is offset by “softening” in emergin
Portugal’s economy grows for first time since 2010 on trade

Aug 15, 2013

Portugal’s economy expanded in the second quarter for the first time since 2010 as export growth accelerated. Gross domestic product rose 1.1 percent from the first quarter, when it fell 0.4 percent, the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute said in a preliminary report Wednesday. That follows ten consecutive quarters of contraction. Economists predicted an increase of 0.1 percent, according to the median of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. GDP dropped 2 percent from a year earlier,
Former workers charged in JPMorgan trading loss

Aug 15, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― Two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. traders falsified bank records to try to cover up trading losses that were spiraling out of control, prosecutors said Wednesday in a criminal case that raises fresh questions about whether Wall Street learned its lessons from the 2008 financial crisis. Javier Martin-Artajo, 49, and Julien Grout, 35, and their co-conspirators were accused of marking up the market value of an investment portfolio to hide the fact that it was plummeting in value. The