Global Economy
South Africa: Key to a Continent
South Africa is a study of contrasts. Its financial sector is among the world's most developed and sophisticated, yet the country of roughly 50 million inhabitants is plagued with large scale ...
Surge in Firms Based in Emerging Markets to Reshape Corporate World: McKinsey
The number of large emerging market companies will surge in coming years and they will become competitors but also customers for rich-country firms, according to a new study. Almost three-quarters of ...
Monsanto Acquiring Weather Data Modeler, Farm Insurer Climate Corp. for $930 Million
Monsanto Co., the world's largest seed company, agreed to buy The Climate Corp. for about $930 million to provide farmers with weather data and agronomic modeling to boost yields and manage risk. ...
Delaying Solvency II Until 2016 Would Harm Insurers: Hulle at FERMA
Further delays to the implementation of Solvency II would compromise the ability of European insurers to deliver protection for their clients in a riskier world, according to a leading insurance ...France’s Axa Sells Majority Stake in Private Equity Unit
Axa SA, France's biggest insurer, sold a majority stake in its private equity unit to its management, led by founder Dominique Senequier. The transaction values Axa Private Equity, which oversees ...
China Testing Free Market with New Shanghai Financial Services Zone
Citigroup Inc. and Bank of China Ltd. said they will participate in Shanghai's free-trade zone as the Chinese government inaugurated the 11-square-mile experiment in more relaxed financial and ...
Lloyd’s Profit Dips Due to Investment Slump
The Lloyd's of London insurance market posted a decline in headline first-half profit after falling bond prices hit investment returns, offsetting robust trading by its members. In a trading ...
AIG Sells $1 Billion of 10-Year Bonds as Corporate Yields Drop
American International Group Inc., the insurer that paid back a $182.3 billion bailout package last year, sold $1 billion of 10-year notes as corporate bond yields fell to a six-week low. The New ...