Financial Guide Online

Asia shares mixed, Tokyo down, as dollar stumbles

Asian shares were mixed Tuesday, with the dollar’s rally against the yen stumbling despite better than expected US retail figures which highlighted a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Bank of Japan in contact with Bloomberg on data access

Japan’s central bank on Tuesday became the latest organisation to express concerns over the access journalists at Bloomberg News have had to potentially sensitive data.

Commerzbank to raise 2.5 bn euros in capital hike

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest bank, said Tuesday the subscription price for new shares in its planned capital increase has been set at 4.50 euros ($5.85) apiece, meaning it stands to raise up to 2.5 billion euros in all.

EU seeks to unleash crackdown on tax evasion

European finance ministers on Tuesday bid to unlock a trillion-euro annual crackdown on tax evasion, under pressure from EU leaders looking for new measures to boost job creation and growth at their Brussels summit next week.

China ‘shadow banking’ growing fast

China’s shadow banking activities have risen nearly 70 percent over the past two years and now total more than half the size of the world’s second-largest economy, ratings agency Moody’s said Monday.

European investors split over ‘rise of markets’

A majority of European investors believes that the eurozone debt crisis is still a threat to financial markets which are rising strongly despite weak activity in Europe, Fitch Ratings agency said in a report on Monday.

Portugal signals IMF-EU approval for latest austerity

The Portuguese government is signalling that it has reached an agreement with IMF and EU creditors on its latest radical austerity measures to correct public finances, after the constitutional court struck down some of the proposed policies.

Lloyds Banking Group chairman to retire

Lloyds Banking Group said on Monday that chairman Winfried Bischoff will retire from the post by the middle of next year after overseeing a partial turnaround of the state-rescued British bank.

Germany suggests ‘two-step’ approach to banking union

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Monday called for a “two-step approach” towards a European banking resolution mechanism, building on systems already in place in a number of countries.

‘Dual-track’ system likely to replace Libor: FT

A dual-track system combining survey-based rates and objective data is set to replace key global interest rate Libor, the Financial Times reported on Monday.