https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com Get the latest on Banking, Finance, Technology, Insurance and much more for Free. No Paywalls, News, Reviews, Analysis, Opinion & more. Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:20:09 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/analysis-gas-price-shock-set-to-add-to-europes-industrial-pain-2/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:15:11 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=805560 By Forrest Crellin, Nora Buli and Nina Chestney PARIS/OSLO/LONDON (Reuters) – Europe’s struggling industries are bracing for a new gas price shock over the coming winter months, as colder weather depletes stocks, competition with Asia for liquefied natural gas intensifies, and the prospect of reduced Russian supplies looms. Since the energy crisis of 2022, when […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/greece-offers-new-round-of-power-bill-subsidies-for-households/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 16:44:11 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=805539 ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece announced a new round of power bill subsidies on Friday to help households grappling with rising electricity costs in December. Greece spent nearly 10 billion euros ($10.58 billion) in power bill subsidies for households and businesses in the 2021-23 period, the biggest amount an EU country has disbursed on such subsidies […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/aviva-set-to-buy-direct-line-to-create-21-billion-british-insurer/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 11:45:20 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=805109 By Yadarisa Shabong and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) -British insurer Aviva has agreed to buy smaller rival Direct Line in a sweetened 3.61 billion pound ($4.60 billion) cash-and-stock deal that will create the UK’s largest home and motor insurer. In a joint statement on Friday, the companies said a preliminary agreement had been reached […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/norways-wealth-fund-can-start-selling-russian-stocks-finance-ministry-says/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 11:14:33 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=805100 By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, can start selling stocks it holds in Russian companies, as long as it complies with international sanctions, the deputy finance minister told Reuters on Friday. “Permission to sell the fund’s Russian stocks is given on the condition that the sale can […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/aviva-sweetens-direct-line-bid-to-4-33-billion-bloomberg-news-reports/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 05:00:05 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=804184 (Reuters) -Insurance company Aviva has sweetened its bid for UK’s Direct Line to about 3.4 billion pounds ($4.33 billion), or 261 pence per share, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The new offer is about 4% higher than Aviva’s initial offer, according to the Bloomberg report. The revised proposal comes […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/russian-railways-to-cut-spending-by-around-40-in-2025-says-finance-chief/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 03:14:52 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=803993 (Reuters) – Russian Railways, a key cog in Russia’s industrial machine, may substantially cut its spending next year by around 40% compared to 2024, the Interfax news agency quoted the company’s finance chief Tatiana Orlova as saying on Thursday. Russian Railways is one of several firms struggling with Russia’s high interest rate burden. The company […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/uks-starmer-says-he-has-not-watered-down-economic-growth-pledges/ Thu, 05 Dec 2024 19:50:02 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=803414 LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that he had not watered down the his ambition for Britain to become the fastest growing economy in the Group of Seven, as he set out ways to measure the government’s progress. The government will now “aim” for the fastest economic growth per capita […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/phantom-wallet-integrates-sui/ Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:22:27 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=803437 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, December 5th, 2024, Chainwire Leading wallet Phantom, which has over 7M monthly active users, chooses Sui’s “high-performant” blockchain as its next integration. The Sui Foundation today announced that Phantom Wallet, the leading non-custodial multichain cryptocurrency wallet, is now integrating with the Sui network. At 7 million monthly active users, Phantom has […]]]> https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/uk-firms-flag-over-1-4-billion-in-labour-costs-from-increase-in-national-insurance-wages/ Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:00:36 +0000 https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/?p=803385 (This Nov. 27 story has been corrected to say that Pets At Home and Halfords expect an increase in costs from a rise in both NIC and minimum wages, not just NIC) (Reuters) – British companies have flagged an increase of 1.1 billion pounds ($1.40 billion) in labour costs related to a rise in employers’ […]]]>