USA Banks News

Credit card fraud perpetrated upon US Credit Card holders stands at 47% of the world’s credit and debit card fraud according to the highly respected Nilson Report. That high statistic translates into a mind-boggling 3.56 billion dollars of fraud losses in the United States last year.

Why, in one of the world’s leading industrial countries, is this loss so great? And what can American cardholders do to protect themselves?

The amount of fraud loss in the US is not directly proportional to the amount of credit card spending; although we are definitely a nation of consumers, we only generate 27% of purchases and cash.

Nilson Report Publisher, David Robertson, states there are two reasons card fraud is so high in the United States. “U.S. banks have been slow to adopt newer technologies such as EMV chip cards, and issuers are reluctant to decline card authorization from merchants because they don’t want to alienate their cardholder.”

EMV technology is widely used in Europe and other parts of the world and provides more protection to the card holder. Cards wit

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We have identified a short term A rated Bank of America bond denominated in the Brazilian real and are targeting a better than 10.00% yield for our clients.

Corporate Bond linked to the Brazilian Real

Bank of America has issued debt, denominated in the Brazilian real, which currently has a yield of about 10.0% for 38 months. The very high yield and short maturity of this Brazil bond, when considered with its solid “A” rating and positioning as one of the “too big too fail” icons within the US financial system, offers an extremely favorable reward to relatively low risk position.  We also

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POUND
Sterling reached a high of 1.1938 vs. the Euro this morning and is trading within tight ranges against the US currency. The pound having recently hit a 10 month high is likely to remain strong against the Euro and take advantage of any further negative news surrounding the Euro zone debt crisis. UK retail sales (recently out) were slightly weaker than the –03% forecast at –0.4% but the impact of this data is likely to be far less than events in Europe. Whilst the outlook for the UK economy remains bleak, expectations are for further gains against the Euro as investors seek more safety in UK government bonds.

EURO
The Euro is continuing to weaken in the FX markets, reaching a low of 1.2973 against the USD and a ten month low against the pound. This weakness in the single currency is showing no signs of stopping as negative news on the euro zone’s efforts to tackle the debt crisis continues to flood the market. The e

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Ladies and Gentlemen, ^[1]

It is a real pleasure to be here in Vienna to exchange views on the future of global governance. Vienna is certainly a city with a long tradition of discussing issues with a global dimension. Following my invitation to speak at this conference, I remembered that, almost 200 years ago, it was here that the famous Congress of Vienna attempted to forge what came to be known as the “Concert of Europe”. This marked the creation of a new global order and a major turning point in world history.

The global economy today is also at a turning point. What we have been observing since the unprecedented financial market tensions in mid-2007, is not merely the unfolding of a global financial and economic crisis. We have been observing the emergence of a new global order, which is occurring at a faster pace than was anticipated prior to the crisis.

The exact form this new world will take is unclear. But

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Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, has announced a battery of emergency measures to rescue Europe’s crisis-hit banks and unblock frozen financial markets, as Europe’s leaders gather to discuss the future of the single currency.

The Frankfurt-based lender said it would cut interest rates for the second time in two months; make three-year loans to cash-strapped banks; and accept a far wider range of collateral, including mortgage-backed securities and other A-rated assets, in exchange for emergency loans.

Individual central banks within the eurozone will also be allowed to accept bank loans in exchange for liquidity, at their own risk.

Explaining the ECB’s decisions at his regular press conference, Draghi said tensions in financial markets presented the greatest risk to Europe’s economy.

“Intensified financial tensions are continuing to dampen the economic outlook,” he warned.

The scale of the emergency measures, which also included a cut in the reserve ratios which banks are required to deposit with the ECB, from 2% to 1% from January, underlined how concerned the ECB has become about the risk of a credit crunch taking hold.

Banks have already seen their funding costs rise sharply as the eurozone financial crisis has worsened.

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