Homeowners warned of ‘significant’ rise in UK interest rates

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Admin

Bank of England’s chief economist speaks out after mini-budget, with financial markets expecting rates to reach up to 6%

Britain’s homeowners have been warned to brace themselves for a “significant” increase in interest rates from the Bank of England in response to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget last week.

Huw Pill, Threadneedle Street’s chief economist, added to the concerns of millions of mortgage payers who have already seen hundreds of home loan products pulled by lenders in anticipation of a big increase in the cost of borrowing.

Money transfer business that was part of exchange rate-fixing cartel fined $1m

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Admin

Cartel members given jail sentences in Australian first after colluding to fix dollar and Vietnamese dong exchange rate

An Australian court has fined a money transfer business $1m and imposed jail sentences on members of a cartel that fixed the Australian dollar and Vietnamese dong exchange rate.

It was the first time an Australian court had imposed jail time for such a crime, however federal court judge Wendy Abraham immediately released the four people – Van Ngoc Le, his son, Tony Le, Thi Huong Nguyen and Khai Van Tran – on good behaviour bonds.

Dirty dollars: how tattered US notes became the latest street hustle in Zimbabwe

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Admin

In country hit by hyperinflation, a shortage of dollars means those struggling to survive can make a profit dealing torn notes

In time-honoured street hawker tradition, Kaitano Kasani is using charm and persuasion to get people to sell him their tattered US banknotes.

Kasani, 42, bellows through a megaphone as he walks through Glen Norah, a township in Harare, in the sweltering November heat.

Assad regime ‘siphons millions in aid’ by manipulating Syria’s currency

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Admin

Government pocketed half of donations in 2020 as central bank forced UN agencies to use lower exchange rate

The Syrian government is siphoning off millions of dollars of foreign aid by forcing UN agencies to use a lower exchange rate, according to new research.

The Central Bank of Syria, which is sanctioned by the UK, US and EU, in effect made $60m (£44m) in 2020 by pocketing $0.51 of every aid dollar sent to Syria, making UN contracts one of the biggest money-making avenues for President Bashar al-Assad and his government, researchers from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Operations & Policy Center thinktank and the Center for Operational Analysis and Research found.