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Islamic Banking: London’s City Finds New Calling
In a bid to attract a new category of investors and to become a leading centre of Islamic finance, the City of London has assembled a task force to spread the word on Sharia-compliant banking. “The aim of our task
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WTO Forecasts Gradual Recovery Despite Cut in Trade Forecasts
World trade growth in 2013 and 2014 is likely to be slower than previously forecast. WTO economists now predict 2013 growth of 2.5% (down from the 3.3% forecast in April) and 4.5% in 2014 (down from 5.0%), but they say
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Global Interconnections and Spillovers
Extracts from a Speech By Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund U.S. Chamber of Commerce, September 19, 2013 I. The Global Economy Today I recently returned from the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg—where I know that the Chamber was
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European Commission Confirms Billions Lost in VAT Gap
An estimated €193 billion in VAT revenues (1.5% of GDP) was lost due to non-compliance or non-collection in 2011, according to a new study on the VAT Gap in Member States. The study was funded by Commission as part of
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Looking for an Easy Fix: The Great Banking Crisis Five Years Later
Greed, malfeasance, incompetence and a lack of both regulation and oversight brought the world perilously close to a financial Armageddon when Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed five years ago this week. The tumultuous event left a gaping hole of well
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Learning the Ropes in Peru: Chinese Companies Engage Local Communities
Chinese companies are learning how to navigate the tricky waters of community politics in perhaps the most unlikely of places: Peru. Here, Chinese businesses have found it next to impossible to buy their way into the local hearts and minds.
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The War on Tax Evasion: How a Good Pursuit Gets Ugly
At first glance, the showdown between the US government and the Swiss banks seems to have produced a satisfactory outcome: Tax dodgers can no longer park their undeclared monies in Switzerland without fear of discovery. Under a new bilateral deal,
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Experts Debate Dubai’s Post-Recession Property Boom – Another Bubble or Sustained Recovery?
More than 750 senior real estate professionals prepped for Global Real Estate Summit and MENA Mortgage and Affordable Housing Congress Dubai, UAE, 11 August, 2013: With all sectors of the Dubai property market now gaining momentum in making a healthy
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Moving into Pakistan Big Time: China to Invest Serious Money
China has the money and is not afraid to invest it in Pakistan. The Chinese Water & Electric Corporation (CWE) is set to disburse some $6bn over the next five years in Pakistan’s energy sector in a bid to help
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A Flash in the Pan Fizzles Out: The Downfall of a Brazilian Tycoon
Playing the markets and getting at the mega-bucks with financial wizardry does not a businessman make: Brazil’s flamboyant Eike Batista – erstwhile owner of the world’s seventh largest fortune – has fallen off his perch in the most spectacular of
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