Headlines

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday offered plans to create a minimum tax on profit of large companies if re-elected for a second term in elections this spring, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Sarkozy, who is trailing challenger Socialist candidate François Hollande in polls, made the comments as the election campaign heats up. and the two front-runners seek to gain traction. Mr. Hollande proposed a tax of a different nature last week: a special 75% tax bracket on France's wealthiest individuals that was well received by voters. Mr.

The European Central Bank’s balance sheet surged to a record 3.02 trillion euros ($3.96 trillion) last week, 31 percent bigger than the German economy, after a second tranche of three-year loans, Bloomberg reported. Lending to euro-area banks jumped 310.7 billion euros to 1.13 trillion euros in the week ended March 2, the Frankfurt-based ECB said in a statement today. The balance sheet gained 330.6 billion euros in the week. It is now more than a third bigger than the U.S.

Banks began cutting access to credit to debt-laden Brazilian electricity distributor Celpa following news reports that its parent company, Grupo Rede Energia, was up for sale, the company's largest shareholder said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Celpa filed last week for bankruptcy protection in a Brazilian court, citing a "very difficult financial and economic situation." Celpa's access to credit has dropped dramatically since November, when news of Grupo Rede's sale first arose, Jorge Queiroz Jr., who owns 54 percent of Rede, told regulators at a hearing.

Twelve financial institutions representing a significant chunk of outstanding Greek bonds held by private lenders have agreed to participate in the voluntary Greek debt swap set to conclude Thursday, according to a statement Monday from the Institute of International Finance, an industry group, The Wall Street Journal reported. The banks and funds all sit on the steering committee that negotiated the terms of the Greek debt restructuring under the auspices of the IIF, which represents some 450 financial institutions.

Iceland's former prime minister Geir Haarde went on trial on Monday for failing to prevent the island nation's 2008 financial crash, the only global political leader to face prosecution over the wider crisis which engulfed the world economy, Reuters reported. Iceland's top three banks all collapsed in late 2008 after years of debt-fuelled expansion. The country of just 320,000 people was forced to borrow around $10 billion (6.3 billion pounds) from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders.

UK regulators and global banks are discussing a potentially far-reaching overhaul of the calculation and regulation of interbank lending rates, amid claims that the benchmark for $350tn contracts worldwide may have been subject to manipulation, the Financial Times reported. The review comes as regulators in North America, Europe and Japan have expanded their year-long probes into alleged manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rates, and other benchmark lending rates, which help set the price of financial products, including mortgages and credit cards.

The Chinese economy, after nearly three decades of rapid, almost uninterrupted growth, seems to be settling down to a still strong but less blistering pace. But some sectors are struggling, including exports and luxury residential real estate construction, the International Herald Tribune reported. Premier Wen said in his annual report to the National People’s Congress on Monday morning in Beijing that the government had scaled its economic growth target back to 7.5 percent this year, down from the 8 percent that Beijing has set as a minimum growth target in recent years.

Ireland is likely to need a second bailout when its current aid program ends, rating agency Moody’s warned today, the Irish Times reported. In its weekly credit outlook report, Moody’s also warned a No vote in the upcoming fiscal treaty referendum would bar Ireland from receiving further funds under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The agency predicted the Government would have to rely on the ESM for additional funding after the existing bailout program expires in 2014.

A major creditor of Proview Electronics, which is challenging Apple Inc.'s use of the iPad trademark, has moved to have the ailing computer monitor maker liquidated, reports said Monday, the Associated Press reported. Taiwan-based Fubon Insurance is seeking $8.68 million in debts and has filed an application to have Proview declared bankrupt, the reports by the Xinhua News Agency and other mainland media said.

The EU reaches a watershed moment this week with the deadline for private creditors to write down Greek debt, one leaders hope will prove momentum has swung in the battle to beat the debt crisis, Agence France-Presse reported. Despite Spain warning that its budget deficit will miss an EU-agreed target by tens of billions of euros this year and with recession also forcing the Netherlands and Belgium to re-do their sums, the view remains that a corner is being turned.