Rebekah Brooks in New York ‘explores’ job opportunities
(Reuters) – Rebekah Brooks, the former head of News Corp’s British newspaper division who was at the center of a phone hacking scandal, is visiting New York this week, exploring possible jobs, a company spokesman said on Friday.
Swiss officials search Sarasin bank in German tax probe
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss authorities have searched the offices of private Bank J. Safra Sarasin as part of a probe led by German prosecutors into dividend stripping, an investment strategy that can be used to help clients avoid taxes, a Zurich prosecut…
Stress tests, Ebola cool global stocks after best week of year
LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks dipped on Friday, as European bank stress test results due at the weekend and New York City’s first case of Ebola prompted investors to lock in profits after the best week for shares in well over a year.
Asia economic growth to languish as China slows: poll
BANGALORE (Reuters) – Emerging Asia will contribute less to the global economy in 2015 than was expected just months ago as a slowdown in China drags on growth in the region, partially offset by acceleration in the United States, Reuters polls showed.
Three major nations absent as China launches World Bank rival in Asia
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders.
Pfizer’s $11 billion buyback plan deflates AstraZeneca bid hopes
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Pfizer is to continue buying back stock, with the board authorizing a new $11 billion share repurchase plan, deflating expectations that it will make a new bid for AstraZeneca.
Special Report: Why Madrid’s poor fear Goldman Sachs and Blackstone
Madrid (Reuters) – Last year Madrid’s city and regional governments sold almost 5,000 rent-controlled flats to private equity investors including Goldman Sachs and Blackstone. At the time, the tenants were told their rental conditions would remain the same.
Specter of no-inflation world looms over Fed’s return to normal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After months of focus on slack in U.S. labor markets, the Federal Reserve faces a new challenge: the possibility that weak inflation may be so firmly entrenched it upends the return to normal monetary policy.
73 Swiss banks ask U.S. to revise proposed tax amnesty deals
(Reuters) – Lawyers representing 73 Swiss banks seeking to avoid a tax-evasion probe by U.S. authorities wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice raising questions over a dozen demands, including the banks’ cooperation with other nations.
Microsoft sales beat Street hopes, cloud profits up
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by stronger sales of its phones, Surface tablets and cloud-computing products for companies, while keeping its profit margins largely intact.
