Headlines

A looming bond payment by Greece to the European Central Bank is emerging as the potentially decisive event in the country’s attempt to stay in the euro and avoid a banking collapse, The Wall Street Journal reported. On July 20, Greece must repay €3.5 billion ($3.84 billion) in bonds held by the European Central Bank. The Athens government doesn’t have the money and without a fresh infusion from its main creditors—other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund—it almost certainly won’t have it by then.

Tom Hayes admitted he asked colleagues at UBS as well as traders and brokers at other firms to help him rig Libor rates, but insisted that his managers were fully aware of what he was doing. The former trader, who also worked at Citigroup, is the first person in the global Libor investigation to face trial. Taking the stand at Southwark Crown Court on the first day of his defence on Tuesday, he said: “Everything I did was with complete transparency.

Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash has said he believes there is sufficient legal protection in place to deal with issues arising from cases such as the liquidation of the department store Clerys, the Irish Times reported. Mr Nash said workers and creditors at Clerys would not get paid over and above statutory payments by the liquidators but added that current law does provide for a situation where assets are kept in one arm of a company, while losses accumulate in another part, which is then liquidated.

Germany maintained a hard line with Athens on Monday after Greek voters rejected Europe’s austerity policies in a referendum, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to restart bailout talks and opening a rift with European countries that appeared more inclined now to consider softening the push for austerity, the International New York Times reported. As Mr.

For months “Grexit” has been a regular topic for speculation among foreign currency specialists. But the working assumption has been that all parties in Greece’s drawn-out saga would find a way of resolving their differences and keep the country in the eurozone. That is no longer the case following the resounding “No” vote in the Greek referendum. As the financial markets digested the referendum outcome, foreign exchange strategists began to factor in the increased probability, instead of mere possibility, of Grexit.

President Xi Jinping of China has crushed opposition by silencing and often locking up anyone who dares defy the government. But that aura of invincibility has been shaken by stock market speculators, who have made a mockery of efforts to halt a steep slide in share prices, the Irish Times reported. The losses – Chinese shares have shed more than a quarter of their value in three weeks – pose an added risk, and possibly greater danger, to a global economy grappling with Greece‘s difficulties in repaying foreign loans and its possible exit from the euro.

The long-awaited new insolvency law has taken a big step towards becoming a reality after being approved by the Cabinet, The National reported. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said on his website that the proposed draft law includes flexible strategies to bail out businesses that have encountered financial troubles that might lead to bankruptcy. “The draft law aims to regulate accumulated debts, eases restructuring of companies as well as support troubled businesses,” he said.

Britain is planning to sell half its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, worth £16 billion, within two years, according to sources have said, the Irish Times reported. Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has indicated that he wants to begin reducing the government’s £32 billion stake in the coming months, but the sources said the shares will be sold at a faster rate than previously expected, making it likely the government will take a substantial loss on the initial sales.

A winding-up petition brought by creditors against the Lotus Formula One team has been adjourned for two weeks, Reuters reported. A spokeswoman for the Companies Court in London said on Monday that the claim against the Enstone-based team, title winners in a previous existence as Benetton and Renault, would be heard on July 20. Lotus, who now race with Mercedes engines, have had financial problems although the signing of Venzuelan Pastor Maldonado has brought considerable backing from state oil company PDVSA.

Greece’s leftwing government was set for a decisive victory in Sunday’s referendum as voters backed its call to reject a compromise with international creditors, raising serious doubts about the country’s ability to remain inside the eurozone, the Financial Times reported. With 70 per cent of votes counted, the No camp had won 61.5 per cent and was leading in every region of the country. If confirmed, it will prove a remarkable political exploit by Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras.