Greek banks will support the government's drive to pull the country out of its debt crisis, the head of the Greek bank association said on Wednesday. "We will support the state in the giant effort to save the country and put it on a growth path," Vassilis Rapanos, who is also chairman of National Bank
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Shares of banks in peripheral euro zone countries fell on Wednesday on fears the region's debt crisis could spread after ratings agency Moody's downgraded Portugal's credit standing to "junk" and said Lisbon may need a second bailout. "Portugal is weighing on the market. The market cannot see a solution to the problem of European debt,"
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Bulgaria's banking system is strong and well capitalised, central bank head Ivan Iskrov said on Wednesday, seeking to ease concerns about the Balkan country's exposure to Greece. Greek banks account for 28% of assets in Bulgaria's banking system and about a sixth in both Romania and Serbia. "There are no weak banks in our banking
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. * First GSM call on July 1, 1991 marked start of a new era in global digital communications On July 1, 1991, the world’s first GSM call on a commercial network was made between Finland’s former prime minister Harri Holkeri and vice mayor of the city of Tampere Kaarina Suonio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkZn7jFd9Rc ). The first GSM
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The European Banking Authority's (EBA) stress test of European banks is likely to have limited rating implications and should have a variety of positive effects for banks, Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday. As Moody's ratings already incorporate its own stress-testing exercises, the rating agency anticipates that the EBA stress test results will mostly reveal weaknesses
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China Unicom subscribers can look forward to a ten-fold increase in their access data rates thanks to a faster information highway across the country. Nokia Siemens Networks is deploying a 5,000 kilometer, 40 Gigabits per second DWDM optical network for China Unicom, paving the way for upgrades to 100Gbps across seven provinces. The increased uptake
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European shares inched higher in thin volume on Tuesday, rising for the seventh straight session, with French retailer Carrefour leading the gainers after listing its Spanish discount chain. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed 0.1% higher at 1,122.23 points, hitting a one-month closing high, though moves were exaggerated by thin volumes of
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U.S. airlines stepped up their campaign against European Union climate policy on Tuesday, challenging the EU in its highest court over the right to regulate their greenhouse gas emissions. The EU aims to lead the world in fighting climate change, and says it needs to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions to guard against
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Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead ten people on Tuesday in the Syrian city of Hama, activists said, and France called on the United Nations to adopt a firm stance in the face of "ferocious armed repression". Tanks were still surrounding Hama, days after it witnessed some of the biggest protests against Assad's
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Dominique Strauss-Kahn was hit with a fresh complaint of attempted rape in France on Tuesday, a new hurdle to any political comeback, even though U.S. sex assault charges against him may be lifted this month. The New York Post cited an unnamed senior investigator as saying prosecutors would drop their charges at a court hearing
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