1 Swiss franc’s rise leads to global casualties
(Jill Treanor & Patrick Collinson in The Guardian) West Ham FC sponsor
Alpari UK has become one of the biggest casualties of the turmoil on currency
markets sparked by the Swiss central bank abandoning its attempt to peg the
franc against the euro. Alpari UK, an online foreign exchange dealer, said it
was insolvent because of the scale of the losses suffered by its clients after
the shock move by the Swiss sparked wild swings in the £3.5tn-a-day foreign
exchange markets.
The repercussions of Thursday’s drama are being felt
across the globe.. In New Zealand, Global Brokers NZ said it was closing down
as it could no longer meet local regulatory requirements and in New York the US
foreign exchange brokerage FXCM was scrambling to raise funds to avert
collapse.
In London, rumours swept through dealing floors
about potential losses following the surprise decision by the Swiss to stop
holding their currency at SFr1.20 against the euro. The move led to a temporary
seizure in the markets and the franc leaped an unprecedented 30% against the
euro. There were reports Barclays and Deutsche Bank had lost millions.
IG Index was the first broker on Thursday to
announce it could face £30m of losses, and similar announcements followed from
other firms. Spread-better London Capital said it had £1.7m of exposure while
other firms, such as City Index, were issuing statements reassuring their
clients.
2 No floor price in sight for oil (Khaleej Times) Oil
plunged close to six-year lows last week on oversupply worries, before staging
a slight recovery as the International Energy Agency (IEA) declared there were
signs that “the tide will turn”.
“How low the market’s floor will be is anyone’s
guess,” the IEA watchdog said in a monthly report. “A price recovery — barring
any major disruption — may not be imminent, but signs are mounting that the
tide will turn.” The IEA maintained its oil demand forecast for 2015, expecting
it to grow by 0.9 million barrels a day to reach 93.3 million barrels. The
agency also cautioned that prices were expected to keep falling in the
short-term.
The oil market had fallen on news that the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) had overproduced in
December. The 12-nation Opec said in a monthly report that its production rose
to 30.2 million barrels a day in December, above its 30 million limit. It also
projected that demand for its oil would fall to 28.8 million barrels per day
this year from 29.1 million in 2014.
Meanwhile, gold rallied to a four-month peak at
$1,279 per ounce on Friday, as investors sought shelter from ongoing markets
turmoil. The price of copper tumbled to the lowest level for more than five
years after the World Bank slashed its global economic forecasts. Copper dived
on Wednesday to $5,353.25 per tonne, last witnessed in July 2009.
3 Getting women into the workplace (Linda Yueh on
BBC) If as many women were involved in work as men, then global output could be
boosted as much as 40%. For countries like Japan, getting women into work is a
policy priority as it could raise GDP by some 14%. That's roughly what adding
women to the US workforce added to America's GDP in the post-war period.
Yet, year after year, it seems that the gender gap
persists. The World Economic Forum gender gap report estimates that it would
take 80 years at the current pace of progress for women to achieve parity in
the workplace. So, why if the economic case is evident, would it still take so
long?
Cherie Blair - wife of the former British prime
minister and a top lawyer in her own right, said that she realised that even
though she had attained the top First in law, it was not enough. Politea
director Sheila Lawlor is more of the view that her experience shows that the
system is largely meritocratic. But, they agree that education is the
pre-requisite.
New York-based clothing retailer, Eileen Fisher
emphasised the importance of mentorship. Training, such as to use technology,
is another way of equipping more women for work. Child care, maternity and
paternity leave could all help women get into work, for instance.
And it's a decision that will have considerable
economic impact since the WEF estimates that there are now more women than men
graduating from universities around the world for the first time. Of course,
staying in work is another issue. The gender wage gap and the glass ceiling are
other concerns since there are still few women at the top.
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