| Lane closures halted for holiday weekend
DOWNERS GROVE -- The Illinois Tollway will suspend all temporary lane closures for construction projects over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend from today to 9 a.m. Monday, but wants drivers to be aware of construction zones in place throughout the system. Some work will continue behind barricades to keep projects on schedule but will not impact traffic. The Illinois Tollway encourages motorists to Know Before You Go -- to make trips faster, easier and convenient. By checking out www.illinoistollway.com before traveling, drivers can get current traffic and construction information, make sure they have funds in their I-PASS accounts and even plan to stop for gas or snacks at an Illinois Tollway Oasis along the way. Thanksgiving weekend travelers will benefit from the new Interstate 355 South Extension, extending the Veterans Memorial Tollway south from Interstate 55 to Interstate 80 through Will County.
I(n)Trospection – the new business model?
Globally, banking as a segment has moved into the mainstream. As financial institutions and best practices gain importance in the region, there is a visible shift towards specialisation which has seen banks in the region transform operations in favour of commercial banking or opt to specialise on the fast growing, yet niche Islamic Finance business. Investments in IT and infrastructure are especially contributing to business growth, enabling customers to enjoying the benefit of improved services and faster delivery of banking products. The Islamic Finance market in particular has seen significant growth over the past few years. Having infused a culture of fresh thinking, its growth in the region has also made it necessary for banks offering Sharia-compliance products and services to constantly seek innovation.
Britain’s Brown faces fury over huge data blunder
About 25 million people's personal data, including bank account details, vanished.published in issue 4068 page 10 at 2007-11-22LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised and announced an investigation yesterday amid angry questions about how private records containing about half of Britain's bank details vanished in the post.
Some 25 million people's personal data, virtually every family with children aged under 16, likely including Brown's own, went missing in the biggest-ever loss of personal information by any government. Two password-protected compact discs containing the names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account details of millions disappeared after a junior official, who failed to post them recorded delivery, sent them to auditors.
The incident is a serious embarrassment for Brown who, as finance minister under Tony Blair, prided himself on restoring his Labour Party's reputation for economic competence and oversaw the creation of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the body responsible for the loss.
Rental company plans to offer personal loans
Radio Rentals is best known as a place to hire whitegoods such as fridges, televisions and washing machines. But now Australia's biggest household appliance rental company plans to offer financial loans to its customers. Managing director John Hughes says the company is entering a new market - the personal loan industry. "They're medium-term loans, from 12 months through to three years, for amounts between $1,000 and $3,000, and we will be commencing a very soft trial in Tasmania in January," he said. Mr Hughes says the loans will be for essential household items. "Primarily what we would be looking for is for specific purpose loans for medical, car repairs, things that are really important to them to be able to obtain finance," he said.
Loan buyer Freddie Mac has its worst quarter
The mortgage crisis intensified Tuesday as Freddie Mac, the nation's No. 2 buyer and guarantor of home loans, posted its largest quarterly loss ever and warned that it may need to curtail its business unless it can raise fresh capital. Freddie Mac lost $2 billion in the third quarter, much more than Wall Street was expecting, primarily because it needed to set aside $1.2 billion to account for bad home loans. Freddie Mac also said it may slice in half its quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share -- which would be its first dividend cut since becoming a public company in 1989. That double dose of bad news sent Freddie Mac's shares skidding 28.7 percent, the largest decline in the two decades its shares have traded in public markets. It also sent a shudder through the mortgage market since Freddie's loss was even larger than the $1.4 billion quarterly deficit of Fannie Mae, its bigger government-sponsored competitor.
Business watercooler stories
GOBBLE, GOBBLE: While the general rule of thumb has been to purchase a Thanksgiving turkey far in advance, it may be a good idea to wait until the last minute. Retailers are finding themselves with an abundance of birds due to a seasonal spike in part-time turkey producers, according to George Van Horn, a senior industry analyst with IBISWorld, Inc. Grocers sell them at a low cost just before the holiday as a promotional tool, to lure customers into their stores for other ingredients. While the supply surge has driven turkey sale prices down, Thanksgiving still accounts for $640 million in industry revenue, Van Horn said. "A lot of smaller farmers realize there is a consistently booming market for the turkey during the holidays," Van Horn said. "Then you have retailers getting creative in finding ways to maximize their profits." The prices for frozen turkey between September and December have declined about 8.5 percent each year in the past decade.
China against world: global finance, trade, jobs, outsourcing, politics, leadership, law
Is a booming China to dominate world finance, trade, outsourcing, banking, jobs, investment, technology, politics, leadership soon? What is really inside Chinese multinationals, society, government, entrepreneurship, management, education? Talk to provocative researcher George Zhibin Gu inside China. timely and provocative book: China�s Global Reach Borderless Business, National Competition, Politics, and Globalization (book excerpts) by George Zhibin Gu Afterword China, United States and Global Development by Andre Gunder Frank Chapter 6. All International Business Players are important Today China is the biggest new frontier for international companies. In many ways, the Chinese market has more an international flavor than many other markets around the globe. Many unique characteristics have evolved along the way.
Banks throw up their hands over loan rule
HA NOI � A number of commercial banks are unlikely to be able to comply with the three-per-cent cap on lending against stock collateral by the end of this year, according to a Viet Nam Banks Association report which also suggested the State Bank of Viet Nam need to review the regulation. Directive No 03 was issued on May 28 and took effect on June 30, requiring all financial institutions to ensure that all of their outstanding loans made against collateral in the form of securities do not exceed three per cent of the institutions total oustanding loans. The deadline for compliance was set at December 31. Last month, with many banks appearing to take little action to comply and some even actively continuing to make such loans to finance stock market investors, the Prime Minister order the State Bank to crack the whip.
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