China is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy One firm has already built China’s largest wind turbine manufacturing factory. And it’s working with the Chinese Science Academy to develop new wind, solar, and geothermal technologies… for which it will own 70% of the rights. But this company’s business reaches far beyond the Chinese border, with operations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. It’s first quarter net income increased by 294% over a year ago. Click here for the full report.

The financial services industry in the United States and Europe is still reeling from the financial crisis, shedding tens of thousands of jobs each month – even a year after the crisis hit its apex.

However, recent evidence suggests that the financial services industry in Asia – particularly China, which was largely isolated from the toxic assets that caused the crisis – is starting to rebound.

Indeed, many …

Bank of Montreal (...

Do you remember the first time you saw a rain drenched Peter Finch scream, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”? We do. We were too young to see Network in the cinema (the movie came out the year we were born: 1976). Instead, we watched it late one night on TV. And we’ll never forget the moment when Finch’s character, news anchor Howard Beale, arrives in the television studio in his tan raincoat with a deranged look on his face and begins to speak to camera.

I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there’s nobody anywhere who seems ...

On July 8, KeyCorp (KEY) announced the commencement of an offer to exchange its common shares for any and all Trust Preferred Securities of KeyCorp Capital V and KeyCorp Capital VI, and any and all Enhanced Trust Preferred Securities of KeyCorp Capital VIII, KeyCorp Capital IX and KeyCorp Capital X.

KeyCorp had recently said that with the successful closure of a previously announced exchange offer, the company believes that it has fulfilled the requirement under the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program or stress test - to generate $1.8 billion of tier 1 common equity capital.

Under terms of the offer, for each Trust Preferred Security of KeyCorp Capital V, KeyCorp Capital VI, KeyCorp Capital VIII, KeyCorp Capital IX and KeyCorp Capital X (the Capital Trusts) accepted, KeyCorp will issue a number of its common shares based on an exchange ratio which will be announced on August 3.

Further, for

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A recent report issued by Fitch Ratings concludes that the more challenging operating environment has negatively affected prospects for retail banking in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC, consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), although the degree of severity will vary.  Fitch views the potential risks from retail lending as high in the UAE (particularly Dubai) and Oman, moderate in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, and low in Saudi Arabia.

The report notes further that the most negative impact could be realized in the UAE, particularly in Dubai, because the UAE retail sector is the largest in size and UAE retail loans grew the quickest in the GCC.  Dubai’s economy has been hit especially hard by the global recession, as the UAE has an exceptionally high proportion of expatriates, at more than 80% of the population (90% in Dubai).  Expatriate residence visas are nearly always linked

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Saturday January 17, 2009 Navivest

Citigroup (NYSE:C) announced yesterday, that it “will realign into two businesses, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, to optimize the company’s global businesses for future profitable growth and opportunities.”

The reorganization in effect, dismantles the bank’s supermarket model, under which it was supposed to be a one-stop financial store for its customers, which its critics have blamed for Citigroup’s problem, claiming that it is too unwieldy.

According to the company, “Citicorp will be a relationship-focused global bank to businesses and consumers. It will include “core” Citi properties and have a presence in high-growth emerging markets around the world.”

These “core” properties will include the global Institutional bank under which falls corporate and investment banking as well as the private bank, which targets high net worth individuals and retail banking, under which “regional consumer and commercial banking franchises in the U.S., Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and

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Missouri has a very diversified economy. It has a large service sector, wholesale, retail, manufacturing and agricultural. It is a top producer of automobiles, beer and aerospace technology. Some lesser known facts about Missouri follow:1. Missouri’s top commodities are soybeans, cattle and calves and corn.2. 14,842 new businesses settled in Missouri during 2007.3. Top manufacturing industries in the state are: transportation equipment, food products, and fabricated metals.4. The manufacturing industry employs 13% of the work force.5. Missouri exports chemicals, machinery and food products to South Korea, China and Japan.6. The High-tech industry of Missouri employs 4% of the work force.7. Missouri offers over $306 million in incentives for biofuel energy development, along with tax credits.8. Forest products contribute $1.69 billion to the economy.9. Top industries depending on exports are the aircraft manufacturing, and the wholesale ...

After a day of dueling lawsuits yesterday (Monday), all parties agreed to halt litigation for two days as Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) continued to squabble over rights to purchase Wachovia Corp. (WB).

After a day of dueling lawsuits yesterday (Monday), all parties agreed to halt litigation for two days as Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) continued to squabble over rights to purchase Wachovia Corp. (WB). The three banks jointly pledged to “cooperate in good faith to agree among themselves to secure orders where necessary in all applicable cases in all jurisdictions,” according to a statement from Wachovia. The agreement was reached after consultations with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bloomberg News reported. The “litigation standstill” will be in effect until noon EDT tomorrow (Wednesday). Earlier in the day, Citigroup had filed suit against Wells Fargo and Wachovia for $60 billion in damages for breaching the exclusive negotiation period Wachovia had agreed to as part of Citigroup’s original offer for Wachovia’s retail banking operations. It was the culmination of a ...

by Edward Hugh: BarcelonaThe euro fell against the dollar yesterday - by the largest amount registered in any single day since the introduction of the single currency in 1999. The drop was effectively a response to the growing signs of strain in Europe's banking sector. Activity in support of banks was widespread throught the day, and across the whole system. The euro fell 2.5 percent to $1.4077 by mid morning in New York, down from $1.4434 on Monday. Early this morning in Europe it was trading in the $1.41 range.This current pressure on the euro is more the result of signs of liquidity problems in the banking sector than it is a response to the growing weaknesses in the eurozone real economies, which, as we saw at the end of last week, are really pretty substantial in their own right. What follows is simply ...