BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 5TH, 2016
CHINA AIMS TO MAINTAIN GROWTH PACE, FEND OFF UNEMPLOYMENT IN FIVE-YEARS
China faces a tough battle to keep its economy growing by at least 6.5 percent over the next five years while creating more jobs and restructuring inefficient industries, Premier Li Keqiang said as he opened China's annual parliament on Saturday. Growth of 6.5 percent would mark a ripping pace for most countries but would be the slowest in China in a quarter century as world's No. 2 economy grapples with gyrating financial markets, softening global trade and efforts to reduce environmental degradation.
EXCLUSIVE: CITIGROUP EXECUTIVES AVOID U.S. CHARGES OVER MORTGAGE BONDS - DOCUMENT
U.S. authorities have decided not to pursue criminal charges against any Citigroup Inc (C.N) executives or employees involved in packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, a government report shows. The decision, which followed Citigroup's $7-billion settlement in 2014 resolving federal and state civil claims related to mortgage bonds, was described in a November report obtained by Reuters in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
VW BRAND BOSS SEES U.S. EMISSION DEAL WITHIN MONTHS: PAPER
Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) brand chief Herbert Diess said it will take months rather than weeks to reach an agreement with U.S. regulators on an emissions fix for 600,000 diesel cars, a newspaper reported on Saturday. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer last month turned up the heat on Volkswagen (VW) by setting a March 24 deadline to the carmaker to state whether it has found a fix that is acceptable to U.S. regulators. VW lawyer Robert Giuffra told Breyer at the Feb. 25 hearing that the carmaker was making progress in trying to reach a settlement with the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and California Resources Board.
INDIA TO STUDY MERGERS OF STATE-RUN BANKS IN EFFICIENCY PUSH
India will consider merging some of its more than two dozen state-run banks, the finance minister said on Saturday, as the government seeks to improve efficiency at the ailing lenders that dominate the nation's banking sector. Bankers have "strongly supported" the idea of consolidation, suggesting the government form a panel of experts to devise a merger strategy, Arun Jaitley said after a two-day annual brainstorming event of industry leaders and officials from the central bank and finance ministry. State-run lenders hold more than two-thirds of assets in India's banking industry.But they also hold about 85 percent of non-performing loans after adding toxic assets at a faster pace than their private sector rivals, hurting profitability.
U.S. COMMERCE DEPT TO PLACE RESTRICTIONS ON CHINA'S ZTE
The U.S. Commerce Department is set to place export restrictions on Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) for allegedly violating U.S. export controls on Iran, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The restrictions will make it difficult for the company to acquire U.S. products by requiring ZTE's suppliers to apply for an export license before shipping any American-made equipment or parts to ZTE. According to a Commerce Department notice that will be published next week in the U.S. Federal Register, the license applications generally will be denied. The restrictions will take effect Tuesday, Reuters has learned, and apply to any company worldwide that wants to ship U.S.-made products to ZTE Corp in China. Those companies are not the target of the export curbs on ZTE.