UK Credit Cards

UK inflation drops half point to 3 pct in February
UK consumer inflation rate falls half point to 3 percent in February, still above target

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5-4-3-2-1…lift off for UK’s space agency
BRITAIN’S own space agency took off yesterday, represented by the Union Flag morphed into a soaring arrow.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-23 08:02 Israel’s First International Bank posts Q4 profit
TEL AVIV, March 23 (Reuters) – First International Bank of Israel (FIBI), the country’s fifth-largest bank, swung to a quarterly net profit, boosted by lower bad debt provisions and higher financing income as the economy improved. FIBI reported on Tuesday a fourth-quarter net profit of 152 million shekels ($41 million), after an 80 million loss in the 2008 period. Income from financing …

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Fed seeks public comments on proposed credit card reforms
In what feels like never-ending regulatory fiddling with the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the Federal Reserve wants to know what consumers think about certain fees that lenders charge as penalties for late payments or other issues.

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Fed seeks public comments on proposed credit card reforms
In what feels like never-ending regulatory fiddling with the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the Federal Reserve wants to know what consumers think about certain fees that lenders charge as penalties for late payments or other issues.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-19 02:38 NZ credit card billings fall in February – RBNZ
WELLINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) – Credit card billings in New Zealand edged lower in February, as consumers remained cautious amid patchy economic recovery and rising unemployment. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Friday total billings fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent last month, compared with a 1.4 percent increase in January. Billings were 1.1 percent higher than a year earlier …

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Texas Couple Charged with Credit Card Fraud
Bryant Police cracked a credit card fraud conspiracy that crossed state lines. Officers arrested Patrick Long and Jennifer Bonilla Friday. Both are charged with 23 counts of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-15 18:57 WRAPUP 2-Credit card data signals US consumer stress easing
By Jonathan Spicer

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-15 18:56 WRAPUP 2-Credit card data signals US consumer stress easing
By Jonathan Spicer

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Private equity firm to take over Annie Leibovitz’s loans
Colony Capital will help her market a library of photographs that includes such images as her Vanity Fair magazine cover of a naked, pregnant Demi Moore and her Rolling Stone photo of a nude John Lennon embracing Yoko Ono

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JSC Alliance Wins U.S. Bankruptcy Court Protection (Update1)
March 9 (Bloomberg) — JSC Alliance Bank , the sixth-largest bank in Kazakhstan by net loans, won bankruptcy court permission to protect itself from U.S. lawsuits and distribute about $500 million to creditors.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-08 00:10 Japan Feb bank loans fall 1.5 pct – BOJ
TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) – Outstanding loans held by Japanese banks fell 1.5 percent in February from a year earlier, matching a decline in January which was the biggest annual drop in four years, the Bank of Japan said on Monday.

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Darling: UK’s on thin ice… and it may crack
ALISTAIR Darling has risked a further split with PM after admitting economy is on ‘thin ice’

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-05 14:50 US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St opens up after payrolls data
NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose at the open on Friday after data showed U.S. employers cut a smaller number of jobs than expected in February, bolstering views the economy was on the brink of creating jobs. The Dow Jones industrial average added 57.14 points, or 0.55 percent, to 10,501.28. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 6.36 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,129.33. The Nasdaq …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-05 14:52 CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises as U.S. jobs data reassures
TORONTO, March 5 (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index climbed on Friday after data showed the U.S. economy shed fewer jobs than expected in February, lifting investor confidence about economic recovery. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 46.23 points, or 0.39 percent, at 11,871.20 at the open.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-03 17:26 Italy’s Tremonti says time ripe to begin tax reform
ROME, March 3 (Reuters) – Italy’s Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Wednesday the moment had arrived to undertake a long-expected overhaul of the country’s creaking tax system — but warned it would take time. Leading figures in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right government have called in recent months for tax breaks to stimulate the euro zone’s third largest economy ahead of …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-03 18:25 UPDATE 1-Fed’s Lockhart sees modest recovery, low rates
NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy will recover slowly and the unemployment rate will take some time to come down, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday. This should keep inflation at bay for the foreseeable future, and allow the central bank to keep interest rates on hold for some time, he said. “I fully support the message of the most recent …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-03 17:25 Multinationals that leave Italy must repay aid- min
ROME, March 3 (Reuters) – Multinational companies that withdraw from Italy must repay all state aid and pay all pending taxes, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Wednesday. “If you have a multinational company that wants to leave Italy, first you have to assess them because it is not right to cut jobs but not pay your taxes. Cut the jobs but pay back state aid,” Tremonti said. Italy’s …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-01 09:04 INSTANT VIEW 1-Swedish economy slips back into recession
STOCKHOLM, March 1 (Reuters) – Swedish gross domestic product unexpectedly contracted 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter to record a second consecutive quarterly fall and send the economy back into recession, figures showed on Monday. Fourth-quarter GDP was expected to have increased by 0.3 percent during the quarter. On a year-on-year basis, GDP was down 1.5 percent from a year earlier versus …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-03 13:39 Spain govt, opposition start talks on economic plan
MADRID, March 3 (Reuters) – Spain’s Socialists met with the conservative opposition on Wednesday in the first round of cross-party talks aimed at reaching a joint deal on reforms to lift the economy from its worst slump in half a century. The government has said urgent, and mostly unpopular, structural reforms should be reached through general consensus, though has warned it would take matters …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-03 12:24 German wages fall for first time in modern history
BERLIN, March 3 (Reuters) – Average wages in Germany fell for the first time in the country’s modern history as the economy sank into recession last year, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday. German workers earned 27,648 euros ($37,370) on average in 2009, down 0.4 percent from 27,751 euros a year earlier, it said in a statement. This marked the first drop since the Federal Republic …

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EU finance chief Olli Rehn says Greece must make additional spending cuts
ATHENS, Greece – European Union Finance Commissioner Olli Rehn says Greece must make still more spending cuts to get out of its debt crisis. Rehn is in Athens Monday, after officials from the EU and International Monetary Fund inspected Greek public finances last week.

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Eurozone finance head tells Greece to step up pace of reform
The man who heads eurozone finance has told Greece it must step up its spending cuts.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-01 05:23 Glance-Market Chatter — Corporate finance press digest
BANGALORE, March 1 (Reuters) – The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Monday:

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UK government programs need to be reevaluated
Many UK government programs are costing a fortune while producing very little returns.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-02-26 13:45 NYC economy expands in Feb to best level in 3 yrs-NY ISM
NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Business activity in New York City expanded in February to its best level in more than three years, according to an industry report released on Friday.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-02-25 09:40 China c.bank says 2010 more complex for economy
BEIJING, Feb 25 (Reuters) – China’s economy will face more complex challenges in 2010, the central bank said on Thursday, repeating a stock phrase that it has used over the past year. In a statement on its website, the People’s Bank of China outlined how it will contribute to the country’s annual ceremonial parliament, which begins meeting next week.

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-02-26 16:24 CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises moderately after early seesaw
TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index seesawed on Friday morning before heading higher as investors weighed stronger resource prices against mixed U.S. economic data. The U.S. economy grew a touch faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter, soothing recent concerns about the strength of the rebound. However, economic data that showed the U.S. housing market has not yet …

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IT education funding squeeze threatens to derail UK recovery
Angelica Mari, Computing , Tuesday 23 February 2010 at 11:29:00 Budgetary constraints are hindering universities’ ability to produce the type of IT-savvy graduates the UK will increasingly need to compete in the global economy, writes Angelica Mari Despite the UK government’s pledge to prioritise the teaching of technology, universities fear that funding cuts will leave them poorly equipped to …

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(AFX UK Focus) 2010-02-26 15:04 US Midwest business expands more than expected in Feb
CHICAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Business activity in the U.S. Midwest expanded more than expected in February, a report showed on Friday. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer rose to 62.6 in February from 61.5 in January. Economists forecast the index at 60. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the regional economy. The employment component of the index fell to 53 in …

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