$356m investment for new call-centre park
The government-owned Montego Bay free zone is withstanding the global recession, and the offshore call centre service-oriented business park has run out of available space, spurring a bid by businessman Mark Kerr-Jarrett to cash in on the buoyant business...
Credit unions change policy to stem bad loans
Credit unions - financial institutions which traditionally service largely low to middle-income savers and borrowers - are reporting a slight increase in loan delinquencies, but says the bad loan rate is nothing to be alarmed over. The movement has adopted stringent new measures...
UC Rusal restructures its US$14-billion debt
Further uncertainty surrounds the future of the local bauxite-mining firms, West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco) and Alumina Partners (Alpart), as their parent company, the Russian United Company (UC) RUSAL, scrambles to restructure portions of its US$14 billion debt...
NIR: Reality or mirage? - Economy bears heavy burden for BOJ's reserve
In the previous instalment of this series of articles, we pointed to the seeming attempt, early in the decade by the central bank, at obfuscation over its use of CDs in the market and the impact of these instruments on the BOJ's balance sheet....
Lower sales, depreciation cut Carib Cement's profit - Parent company also hurt by global crisis
A downturn in the market for cement combined with the sharp depreciation of the Jamaican dollar, has driven down, by 20 per cent, last year's profit by the Rockfort, east Kingston-based Caribbean Cement Company (CCC) and contributed to softer earnings by its parent company...
MOVEMENTS
Mighty takes top job at COK - Jacqueline Mighty, a chartered accountant with more than 24 years in management, finance and accounting, has been appointed general manager of COK Co-operative Credit Union Limited.She replaced Brenda Cuthbert on February...
T&T central bank governor urges strengthening of financial system
Trinidad and Tobago's central bank Governor Ewart Williams has called for a strengthening of the region's financial system following the collapse of Lawrence Duprey's CLICO and its clico International Bank (CIB)...
IRS going after Stanford
WASHINGTON (AP): The government is asking a federal judge for permission to go after at least US$226.6 million in back taxes, penalties and interest it says are owed by R. Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire who has been accused of conducting an US$8-billion investment...
IRS giving relief to some Madoff investors
WASHINGTON (AP): The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidelines yesterday that will allow relief and refunds for some of Bernard Madoff victims who were taxed for investment earnings that turned out to be nonexistent.IRS Commissioner Douglas...
Obama defends budget, furore grows over AIG
WASHINGTON (AP):United States President Barack Obama pushed back yesterday against criticism that he is trying to take on too many issues at once, defending a US$3.6 trillion budget that seeks to shore up the economy...
Citigroup's global markets unit fined $2 million
WASHINGTON (AP): The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has handed Citigroup Inc.'s global markets unit a US$2-million fine, claiming a number of trade reporting violations. The violations include publishing flawed stock quotations ...
Housing starts surge, wholesale prices edge up
WASHINGTON (AP): Housing construction in the United States posted a surprisingly large increase in February, bolstered by strength in all parts of the country except the West. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that construction of new homes...
High demand for experienced teachers
While Jasper Lawrence, the chief education officer, in the Ministry of Education maintains that vacancies for high and primary schools teachers rarely exceed 60 each year, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's September 2008 survey shows that...