Network Archives

Top Ten Cities With the Most Multi-Millionaires

"London is the home to more multimillionaires, 4,296, than anywhere else in the world, but is facing tough competition from Hong Kong, 2,560, and Singapore, 3,154, to keep that title, according to a new study, writes MarketWatch. The WealthInsight Intelligence Center Database, which tracks wealth and liquidity events, found Singapore and Hong Kong have the fastest growth rate for multimillionaires and could overtake London by 2020 if the trend continues. The report defines a multimillionaire as someone with $30 million or more." Continue reading →

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Marc Rich, King Of Commodities, Dead At 78

"He sold Soviet oil to apartheid South Africa, despite a UN embargo, and between 1979 and 1994 made profits of around $2 billion there. He sent Soviet and Venezuelan oil to Cuba in exchange for sugar, ignoring America’s ban on trade. He sold on the global market surplus Iranian oil that had flowed to Israel down a secret pipeline, and kept the arrangement going seamlessly despite the Iranian revolution of 1979, another embargo, and the American hostage crisis. In 1983 he fled to Switzerland with his family. Thereafter he became a fugitive, a star of the FBI’s most-wanted list. In 2001 Bill Clinton pardoned him." Continue reading →

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Swiss pilot cleared to finish solar plane trek across U.S.

"For Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, flying an experimental solar aircraft across America has been exhilarating, but perilous at times. His wispy, fuel-free aircraft, the Solar Impulse, is poised to take off Saturday on its final leg of a cross-country US tour aimed at showcasing the promise of clean energy. The plane’s American trip is just the latest in a series of groundbreaking flights across different parts of the world, including Europe and Africa. Piccard said the next plane will be 10 percent bigger, with more power, reliability, an auto-pilot function and a toilet so that pilots can make the four to six day long trips that will be part of its journey across the world in 2015." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss pilot cleared to finish solar plane trek across U.S.

Crashes of Convenience: Michael Hastings

"Michael Hastings was that rarest of breeds: a mainstream reporter who wasn't afraid to rail against the system, kick back against the establishment, and bite the hand that feeds him. On the morning of June 18, 2013, he died in a fiery car crash. But now details are emerging that he was on the verge of breaking an important new story about the CIA, and believed he was being investigated by the FBI. Now even a former counter-terrorism czar is admitting Hastings' car may have been cyber-hijacked. Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we explore the strange details surrounding the untimely death of Michael Hastings." Continue reading →

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Western governments set to target tech giants over tax avoidance

"Western governments are set to target a range of tax loopholes used by technology giants including Apple, Amazon as part of an international drive to tackle corporate tax avoidance, a draft action plan seen by Reuters said. Corporate tax avoidance has become a hot political issue following public outrage over revelations in the past year that companies such as Apple and Google had used structures U.S. and European politicians said were designed to minimize the amount of taxes paid. As governments struggle with large deficits following the financial crisis, lawmakers have said enough is enough." Continue reading →

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Swiss court OKs Credit Suisse client data transfer to IRS

"Switzerland's highest court ruled on Friday that Swiss bank Credit Suisse was free to transfer data to US authorities concerning clients suspected of tax dodging, ending a long series of legal challenges. In its decision, the Alpine country's Federal Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Credit Suisse clients and gave its blessing to a request made in 2011 by Washington for data on clients suspected of evading US taxes. The federal court on Friday ruled that Washington's broad request 'was not a fishing expedition' even though the request did not specifically name the suspected clients." Continue reading →

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China, Switzerland sign free trade agreement

"China and Switzerland on Saturday signed a free trade agreement (FTA) - Beijing's first in continental Europe - in a deal that comes against a backdrop of trade tensions between the Asian giant and the European Union (EU). Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann inked the accord in a ceremony at the Commerce Ministry in Beijing before officials and reporters. Afterwards, they clinked glasses of champagne in celebration of the agreement, which aims to increase the $26.3 billion in bilateral trade they recorded in 2012." Continue reading →

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Switzerland Will Join Race to Be Trading Hub for China’s Yuan

"Switzerland plans to bid to become an offshore yuan trading center in Europe, competing with Frankfurt and London to corner trade in the Chinese currency. 'It is in Swiss interest to have a renminbi hub in the center of Europe,' Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann said in Beijing yesterday after signing a free trade agreement with Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. While no official talks have taken place, Schneider-Ammann said he hopes the idea will become 'more serious' in the coming weeks or months." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwitzerland Will Join Race to Be Trading Hub for China’s Yuan

Toronto Reviews Bid to Become Yuan Currency Trading Hub

"Canada’s banks are considering a plan to make Toronto the first North American trading hub for China’s yuan, joining a global race for a share of trading in the currency of the world’s second-largest economy. The moves to set up a trading hub in Canada come as an organization representing Frankfurt’s financial industry predicts the European Central Bank is nearing a deal with China that will help the German financial center become a European yuan trading hub. The Bank of England signed a similar but smaller agreement last month, joining other recent additions like Australia, Turkey, Brazil and South Korea as China pushes for greater use of its currency outside the mainland." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingToronto Reviews Bid to Become Yuan Currency Trading Hub