BRUSSELS: The European Union, shaken by Greece’s fiscal crisis and struggling to get its new institutions into gear, hopes to relaunch itself this week as leaders mull improved, coordinated economic governance.
Europe’s post-recession economic woes, highlighted by the swelling deficits of Greece and others, will be the focus of a European Union summit on Thursday.
The meeting [...]

credit, debt, Euro Zone, global markets, greece, recession, spain, UK Hide

You first start learning about teaching your kids about money on that special trip to Wal-Mart when your child first throws a tantrum because you won’t buy her a Barbie doll. Some people will grab the child from the shopping cart and leave the store fuming and red in the face. Other parents might opt [...]

credit, spending Hide

HONG KONG : Hong Kong stocks have come under pressure amid worries over further credit tightening measures by China.
The Hang Seng is down by some 8 per cent for the year, and 13 per cent lower than its peak in mid-November 2009.
Market watchers have said they expect further weakness in the coming sessions as outflow [...]

China, credit, fears Hide

DAVOS, Switzerland : Global leaders and bankers will be looking for firm signs at the Davos forum this week of China’s determination to control the hot money pouring into its economy.
A year after China’s Premier Wen Jiabao sternly lectured the United States and other western nations at the World Economic Forum for causing the international [...]

bubble, China, credit, global markets, housing, investments, subprime Hide

WASHINGTON : The lead author of a World Bank report on the global economy published Wednesday said the bank sees “signs of bubbles” in the Chinese economy, a problem he said the Chinese government acknowledges.
“We can already see some signs of bubbles and signs of tensions in the Chinese economy, in particular in the housing [...]

bubble, China, credit, housing, subprime Hide

I REFER to last Monday’s report, ‘Moneylenders target HDB sellers‘, which mentioned that ‘agents…introduce desperate sellers to moneylenders, and may get a fee for the referral, usually about $500 a customer’.
The Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies does not support the practice of estate agents obtaining referral fees from moneylenders for introducing their clients to them.
Estate agents [...]

credit, debt, housing loans, Singapore Hide

READING the fine print just got easier, if you are an American credit-card holder.
Last May, the authorities in the United States stated that all information, including applications and disclosures for that piece of plastic, has to be printed in at least 12-point font.
These rules are not in effect here. But The Association of Banks in [...]

consumers, credit, Singapore, spending, US Hide

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve finalised new rules aimed at protecting credit card holders Tuesday that also make it difficult for anyone under the age of 21 to obtain a credit card.
As part of a series of new rules aimed at protecting consumers, the measure forbids banks from issuing a credit card to anyone under [...]

credit, spending, US Hide

WASHINGTON (AFP) – – Fitch Ratings Monday affirmed its top AAA credit rating for the United States, with a stable outlook, but said Washington faces “difficult decisions” on its finances to maintain long-term confidence.
The British-based credit rating agency said the near-term risk to US credit “is minimal given its exceptional financing and economic flexibility and [...]

credit, US Hide

At a hearing last fall, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers that he and his team were working to put the $700 billion financial bailout fund “out of its misery.” But some in Washington now see a second, backdoor bailout in its place.
On Dec. 24, the Obama administration announced it was extending an unlimited [...]

bailout, credit, fannie, freddie, housing loans, subprime, US Hide