On Wednesday, in a significant development, Russia halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after both countries rejected Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian gas in Rubles. The development comes in the wake of massive sanctions by Western countries against… Read More ›
payments
Thailand bans usage of digital assets for making payments from April 1 2022
On Wednesday, Thailand’s market regulator said, from April 1, 2022, it has banned the use of digital assets for being used to pay for goods and services. The move is in line with earlier discussions between the Securities and Exchange… Read More ›
Russia averts sovereign bond default
As per a source familiar with the situation at hand, Russia has made payments towards sovereign bonds which were due this week, which was received by JPMorgan which processed it and made an onwards credit to Citi. With this Moscow has… Read More ›
China’s property market will continue to decline in 2022: S&P
Already under pressure, China’s property market is faced increased headwinds in November following cash crunch among developers and faltering demand. Prices for new homes fell by 0.3% month-on-month in November marking the biggest decline since February 2015. In October, home… Read More ›
S&P downgrades Chinese developer Evergrande Group to CCC-
The ratings of heavily indebted Chinese developer Evergrande Group and its subsidiaries was downgraded to “CCC-“, down from ‘CCC+” by S&P Global. This is its second downgrade in less than two weeks. Evergrande along with its subsidiaries Hengda Real Estate Group… Read More ›
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG settles kickback charges for $729 Million: DoJ
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice said, Novartis AG has agreed to settle U.S. government charges that it had made illegal transfers, in the nature of kickbacks, to doctors and patients, in order to boost drug sales. Swiss… Read More ›
Bank of Ireland received 15K applications for mortgage breaks in March
In a statement on Friday, the Chief Executive of the Bank of Ireland said, he has received 15,000 applications for payment breaks from mortgage customers in March and a further 5,000 businesses are seeking breaks from such payments as a… Read More ›
Saudi Arabia allows Iranian oil tanker, Happiness 1, to sail back to Iran
In the last few weeks, there has been rising tension revolving around Iran and oil tankers in the Persian gulf. In a development that could potentially ease rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran stated it appreciates Saudi Arabia’s efforts in… Read More ›
European Commission ends antitrust probe on Visa & Mastercard
Visa & Mastercard have offered to cut non-EU card fees to stave off fines and end the European Commission’s antitrust probe. On Monday, the European Union’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager stated, it has accepted an offer by Visa and Mastercard… Read More ›
MNCs poring over new U.S. tax code find loopholes to minimize their tax profile
While the new tax code was meant to simplify tax compliance, it has introduced more complications and ambiguity, all of which can be exploited. The tax-dodging strategies discussed here with comments from tax experts and lawyers are indicative of how… Read More ›