The Moscow Stock Exchange has announced its IPO, but has so far not released any more concrete details. However, it has been confirmed that the banks handling the IPO will be JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Sberbank and VTBank. Analysts have suggested it is too early in the IPO’s pre-marketing phase to pinpoint how much the offering might be worth, a source close to the deal told Fox Business it is expected to clock in somewhere between $4bn and $6bn. This estimate is likely based on the value of the merger of the MICEX and dollar-denominated RTS in 2011, which resulted in the creation of the Moscow Stock Exchange and was worth $4.5bn at the time. “The exchange’s own listing is a key element of our strategy to promote the development of the local capital markets as well as to broaden the regional and international appeal of Moscow as a financial centre,” said Sergei Shvetsov, chairman of the exchange’s supervisory board. “As a public company, Moscow Exchange will be committed to demonstrating leadership in corporate governance practices and transparency.” So far, Moscow Stock Exchange’s two biggest shareholders, the Bank of Russia and Sberbank, who hold 24.3 percent and 10.3 percent stakes respectively, have announced they will not be selling any of their shares in the upcoming IPO.

Though China’s GDP growth slowed to its lowest in 13 years, the country finished 2012 in a slightly stronger position reporting 7.9 percent growth in the last quarter, compared to 7.4 in the three months before. The overall growth rates for the year topped 7.8 percent, significantly higher than some estimates of 7.5 percent. The results are still the lowest since 1999. The growth spurt in the fourth quarter, however, is definitely encouraging. “Overall the economy has been stabilising,” according to a statement released by the national statistics bureau. The growth has been mainly driven by renewed investments in infrastructure by the government, and the loosening of monetary policy, and mid-year interest rates cut. Exports, which had been uncharacteristically low throughout the year, also picked up towards the end of the final quarter. The figures also revealed a slight dip in investments in December, a worrying sign as the Chinese economy relies heavily on this income. However, the new leaders are determined to invest in developing the domestic sector and boosting internal consumption in order to make the rebound more sustainable. “We should focus on changing the mode of economic development and improving the quality and efficiency of growth,” said the statistics bureau. In the wake of the release of the figures, Asian stock markets responded positively, as did the Australian dollar.

The World Bank has stated that despite weak growth forecasts countries should not be tempted by the quick fix of artificially stimulating their economies this year, and should instead invest in developing the backbone drivers of growth. New World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said: “The economic recovery remains fragile and uncertain, clouding the prospect for rapid improvement and a return to more robust economic growth.” He was speaking in response to the declining growth rates of large emerging economies like Brazil, India and Russia and the Japanese government announced a Y10.3tn stimulus package to help reawaken its economy. The World Bank maintains that even as the world emerges from the four years of economic crisis, countries will still struggle to grow at pre-2008 levels. In the biannual Global Economic Prospects report the organisation said that “the majority of developing countries are operating at or close to full capacity.” It forecast that global economic growth would rise modestly from 2.3 percent in 2012 to 2.4 percent this year. The World Bank has also expressed some concern over the persistent pattern of growth in developing countries being offset by weak demand and growth from high income countries, a trend they say will endure until 2015. According to the report, emerging economies will grow 5.5 percent, while higher income countries will only expand 1.3 percent. “Developing countries’ growth is generating through their own activities and refutes the view that it is just a reflection of a strong demand in high income countries,” […]

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a set of universal social media rules? As it is well known that, the most popular social networking sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest. Each one of these sites is serving specific purposes or functions for different groups of people. Here we are sharing some tips on the etiquette of social networking. 1. Create a business profile for business and use a different account for personal connections. Real name and picture should be used in the business profile, and never try the cute, weird or useless words. Your new dress may be adorable, but it does help nothing for explaining your business to your clients. A personal account is more likely to function better when connecting with friends and families. It is better that business and personal life are not mixed together. 2. Don’t put any information that is negative or you don’t want your boss, peers or current or potential clients to see. Never should you post the moments or pictures that you are upset, angry, crying, or over-tired. People always remember a person’s negative moment, and judge the person by it. 3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Certainly, we should be responsible for what we are writing, posting, and responding. So it is great to post serious content or information in the social networking sites, and do not write offensively or rudely. But it is also okay if receiving some words that you don’t like. After all, social networking is […]

The EU has released a new draft of regulations that would force countries to take a greater participation alongside the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund, or protect the fund against any losses accrued from rescuing banks. The plan was circulated among eurozone finance ministers at the end of last year but has now been made public. The plan has not been entirely well-received as critics worry that by encouraging a greater share of the financial burden of rescuing a failing bank, the EU will not achieve its goal of “breaking the vicious circle” between failed banks and struggling governments. Already countries like Ireland, Spain and Cyprus have seen their sovereign debt levels skyrocket by the billions of euros required to bail out their banks, and triggering government bailouts, for Dublin and Nicosia, and the brink of collapse, for Madrid. The new draft goes against the previous plan, agreed to in June of last year, for direct recapitalisation for troubled banks by the ESM, and would shift the responsibility of bailout funds from national coffers to the ESM, which is funded by all 17 eurozone members. Observers had noted that this model would have broken one of the most vicious cycles of the current crisis by protecting governments from being forced to the brink of insolvency by bank rescues. The new draft proposal, goes against all of those proposals, to force countries who can afford it to invest their own funds into struggling banks in order for them to be […]