Features
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La Scala opera house heads take 10% cut
The head of Milan's La Scala opera house and the world famous conductor Daniel Barenboim have taken a 10 percent salary cut to help slash the company's debt, Italian media reported. After several years of culture budget cuts, imposed as a ...
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Malta and the Council of Europe Development Bank
In June 2013 Malta will host the annual meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). It will be 40 years since Malta joined the Bank, previously known as the Social Fund. After joining in 1973, Malta took several loans for social...
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It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark
At the risk of sounding irreverent and profane, without a shadow of a doubt Noah wrote the first textbook about risk management. Admittedly he had good connections and prior warning, but despite the fact that there was not a cloud in the sky and...
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Crisis hits Naples artisans
Their hand-crafted Nativity scenes are world renowned but artisans on a famous Naples street warn they may not be around for much longer as the economic crisis hits their family businesses. “It’s a nightmare, the crisis is really starting to hit us...
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US, EU banks face rough year ahead
Stalling economies, crumbling assets, tough new capital rules and shrinking avenues to make money paint a rough year ahead for banks on both sides of the Atlantic. That spells bad news for the economies that depend on banks to fuel investment by...
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The EU VAT refund claim: How does it work?
Would you like to optimise your cash flow potential? Have you ever thought of recovering VAT on expenses incurred abroad? Are you overlooking the opportunity to recover this VAT due to the complexity of the refund claim application? Local...
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Poland’s young and creative people
Poland has one of the best educated societies in the European Union. Young people make up 30.2 per cent of the population who study, work and learn foreign languages. In their minds great and creative ideas thus flourish, creating the face of...
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Regulating traditional herbal medicines
The use of plants, in a wide variety of forms, for their therapeutic value is widespread. Indeed, alternative herbal medicine preceded traditional medicine and now sits comfortably alongside mainstream medicine, with many even considering it as a...
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Local shares strongly underperform in Q1
During the first quarter of 2011 all major international stockmarkets were impacted by two unexpected events which occurred in quick succession – the escalating crisis in the Arab world which quickly spread to Libya and the devastating natural...
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ECB hikes rates; euro higher on monetary policy outlook
Last week, on Thursday, the European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.25 per cent as was widely anticipated by markets. This marked the first time since July 2008 that the ECB raised its “refi” rate. In the news conference...
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The euro faces an interest rate decision today
So far this week EUR/USD has traded in the range of 1.4153-1.4268. Ahead of us today we have the ECB interest rate decision at 13.45CET and the ECB president will be giving his customary news briefing conference at 2.30 p.m. Markets have been...
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Consultations over online gambling
The European Commission is lending an ear to interested stakeholders in the online gambling market. With the recent launch of an EU-wide public consultation on a Green Paper dealing with online gambling, the Commission is striving to get its facts...
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GHM expands into Turkey
Grand Harbour Marina plc recently announced its first investment outside Malta through a 45 per cent acquisition in the Cesme Marina in Turkey. GHM had successfully raised €12 million through the local bond market in January 2010 in order to...
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Trichet’s hawkish comments keeps focus on interest rates
Earlier in the week, European Central Bank president Jean Claude Trichet reinforced interest rate expectations for a rate rise as early as next month. Mr Trichet said that the eurozone inflation rate is “durably” above the central banks’ target. The...
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MIA registers record profitability
The 12.8 per cent increase in passenger numbers passing through the airport terminal during 2010 boosted the financial performance of Malta International Airport plc. The airport operator recently announced a 20 per cent increase in pre-tax profits...
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Community patent and its enforceability
The ministers of economy of 25 member states of the European Union have given the green light for the adoption of a Community Patent. This patent will be valid in 25 EU member states and is expected to enter into force in 2014. The idea of a...
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G7 countries intervene to reduce yen’s volatility
Last Friday, the G7 announced there would be a coordinated currency intervention in respect of the JPY. This announcement triggered a spike, from levels around Friday’s open of 79.08, up to 81.48. The USD/JPY currency pair than continued its drive...
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Go’s dividends slashed by 50%
Go plc’s announcement on March 15 that dividends to shareholders have been halved to a net distribution of €0.05 per share was yet another disappointing piece of news for the local market. Within the space of a few weeks, financial markets worldwide...
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No outright ban on online sales
An outright ban imposed by a manufacturer on its distributors from selling products over the internet falls foul of the competition rules, the ECJ’s Advocate General Ján Mazák recently declared. Each case has to be examined on its own merits in...
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Japan in the spotlight – yen strengthens
Attention has shifted from the Middle East/North African unrest onto Japan for most of this last week. As if having to face an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami was not enough, Japan has had to struggle with a massive nuclear alert...
