The Greek government is confident that rules surrounding its debt repayments will be relaxed this month, despite reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is unlikely to unlock more money for Athens. “The general atmosphere is that there will be an agreement on debt at the June Eurogroup,” a Greek government official, who did not […]
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Major bank CEOs say blockchain will underpin the financial industry 'in five years'
Blockchain technology could soon revolutionize the global banking industry, according to the chief executives of two major European lenders. Banks have invested millions in developing blockchain applications in recent years, as part of a broader industry effort to try to cut costs and simplify their back-office processes. The technology, which is perhaps better known as […]
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The spread between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures prices has widened to new extremes recently, and this is a bullish development. The spread has reached more than $11, the largest since mid-2015. WTI is trading a little over $65 per barrel, while European Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is trading near […]
Read moreWASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, declared that the trade war with China was “on hold” and that the United States would temporarily holster its tariffs. The reassuring comments calmed markets and raised hopes that Mr. Mnuchin, one of President Trump’s most enduring and trusted advisers, was winning the internal trade […]
Read moreThe Trump administration may soon claim as much as $1.7 billion penalty from ZTE Corp., as it looks to punish and tighten control over the Chinese telecommunications company before allowing it back into business, according to people familiar with the matter. The Commerce Department is also seeking unfettered site visits to verify U.S. components are […]
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Merkel lays out her vision for the euro — but her ideas are still far from Macron's
German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended her silence on euro zone reform by showing some willingness to increase risk-sharing — a long-standing issue for many politicians in Berlin. Merkel on Sunday revealed her vision for the future of the euro zone bailout fund — the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) — and for an investment budget to […]
Read moreRussian President Vladimir Putin invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to travel to Russia in September, RIA news agency reported on Monday, citing Ivan Melnikov, a deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who visited Pyongyang last week, passed the North Korean leader an invitation from Putin to […]
Read moreThe co-founder of an online money transfer service claimed that cryptocurrencies aren’t flexible enough to be adopted on a widespread basis. TransferWise is an Estonian developed and U.K.-based money transfer service, launched in January 2011. Its co-founder and CEO, Kristo Kaarmann, said Monday that while cryptocurrencies are interesting, they currently have limited use. “It would […]
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Facebook reportedly gave personal data to 60 companies including Apple, Amazon and Samsung
Facebook struck dozens of data-sharing deals with smartphone and tablet makers over the last decade, according to a report by The New York Times. The newspaper revealed Sunday that Facebook had formed at least 60 data-sharing partnerships with device makers including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Samsung over the last 10 years. Without explicit consent, these […]
Read moreGlobal gross domestic product (GDP) growth could take a hit to the order of around one percent if tariff threats escalate into a trade war, S&P Global’s chief economist forecast Monday. It may not be a global recession, but “one could imagine a scenario where rather than global growth in the threes we have global […]
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