Month: January 2010

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Switzerland and France settled a row over stolen bank records on Wednesday that was blocking a treaty aimed at helping Paris catch tax cheats.

They were once seen simply as luxuries for the rich and (sometimes) famous yachts, racehorses, even private aircraft, the kind of thing that no self-respecting multimillionaire would be without but the wealthy have discovered an unexpected bonus from their executive toys. They are using them as security for loans so that they do not have to find large amounts of cash for a deposit when buying a new home.

President Barack Obama said he was prepared for a fight with Wall Street over his proposals to split off the trading businesses from retail banks. It looks as if one of the world’s biggest banks, Barclays, is willing to take Mr Obama on.