Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government and the central bank to prepare proposals on lowering the state?s share in lenders to less than 50%, the Kremlin said. Medvedev instructed prime minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin and Bank Rossii chairman Sergey Ignatiev to submit the proposals by September 1, according to a statement published on the Kremlin?s website. OAO Sberbank and VTB Group, two biggest lenders, are run by the government. The outgoing Russian leader promised to relinquish control of some of the biggest state companies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last June, saying it was time to reverse the policy of strengthening the government?s presence.
Goldman loses bid to end lawsuit over risky CDO
Goldman Sachs Group Inc lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors by selling risky debt linked to subprime mortgages that it planned to bet against. The decision by US district judge Victor Marrero in New York keeps alive a hedge fund’s claims over a $2-billion offering of collateralised debt obligations, amid intense scrutiny over Goldman’s activities before and after the 2008 financial crisis.
Chinese firm helps Iran spy on citizens
A Chinese telecommunications equipment company has sold Iran?s largest telecom firm a powerful surveillance system capable of monitoring landline, mobile and internet communications, interviews and contract documents show. The system was part of a 98.6 million euros ($130.6 million) contract for networking equipment supplied by Shenzhen, China-based ZTE to the Telecommunication of Iran (TCI), according to the documents.
Premier Oil to invest $850 m in North Sea after tax break
Premier Oil, a London-based explorer, will invest about $850 million to tap the Solan field in the North Sea, encouraged by government tax breaks that favour harder-to-develop deposits. First oil from the field west of the Shetland Islands, estimated to produce about 42 million barrels, is expected in 2014, the company said in a statement. The UK government will first need to approve the project, which could pump almost 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
GSK confirms $800-m UK manufacturing investment
GlaxoSmithKline, Britain’s biggest drugmaker, confirmed plans on Thursday to invest more than 500 million pounds ($792 million) in manufacturing in Britain as it selected a north of England location for a previously announced biotech plant. The news ? though expected ? is a boost for Prime Minister David Cameron, who has made wooing the pharmaceuticals industry a priority in the wake of Pfizer?s 2011 decision to shutter its giant research centre in Sandwich, southern England.
Osborne?s budget cuts 50% tax, targets mansions
Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne gave to the rich by lowering Britain?s 50% top income-tax rate, provoking a backlash as he accompanied the move with a 1 billion-pound ($1.6 billion) raid on pensioners. Osborne staged a balancing act in annual budget to appease members of his Conservative Party who wanted the top tax rate scrapped to spur enterprise and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners who were demanding help for low and middle- income families.