Financial Schools Reviews

() - The European Union on Wednesday adopted a legislative package to avoid the occurrence of another sovereign debt crisis in Eurozone. Accordingly, a fine will be imposed on Euro nations that fail to limit their budget deficit.

The six-law package includes a wide-range of reforms to the Stability and Growth Pact, or SGP, and two new regulations aiming at detecting and addressing effectively emerging macroeconomic imbalances within the EU and the euro area.

These proposals require the approval by the European Parliament and European Council. The European Commission urged all parties to work towards a speedy adoption of these proposals.

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() - Singapore is on Friday scheduled to release August figures for industrial production, highlighting an otherwise light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Analysts are expecting output to have risen 11.7 percent on year after adding an annual 9.9 percent in July. On a monthly basis, industrial production is expected to ease 2.8 percent after adding 1.4 percent in July.

Finally, the China stock market remains closed on Friday on holiday, and will re-open on Monday.

Australia’s fourth largest bank NAB warned mortgage borrowers that they should be prepared for a hike in interest rates next month.

Not all analysts believe that rates will rise next month, but there is broad consensus that interest rates will be hiked before the end of the year. Alan Oster, chief economist from NAB said that the central bank’s tone in recent communication suggests that a rate hike is imminent.

“Until recently, RBA officials seemed to be signalling that interest rates were around average and growth was close to trend. There

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As folks most likely know by now, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced last Monday that the recession had ended in June of 2009. To me, that organization’s opinion doesn’t really count for a whole lot, since it pinned down the recession’s starting point only in January of 2009, 13 months after it began in December of 2007. Looking back to the post-equity-bubble recession, the bureau would have you believe that one lasted only from March to November of 2001.

If you ask me, the hangover certainly lasted into 2002 and perhaps a bit into 2003 (though the ending date doesn’t matter much), meaning the bureau’s analysis may not be all that great in the first place.

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Australian banking major ANZ says it will defend itself vigorously defend itself from what is widely expected to become a number of class action law suits.

Proceedings for litigation which seek the recovery of over $250 million from 12 banks for overcharging on fees has been initiated.

Maurice Blackburn the law firm representing the class action litigants, filed its case in Federal Court on Thursday with a $50 million claim plus interest on behalf of 27,199 claimants who hold approximately 40,000 accounts with ANZ.

Bernard Murphy, chairman of Maurice Blackburn says the case is a very strong one, and alleges that banks were charging their customers illegal fees, and their action in imposing those fees were unfair under the ASIC, Trade Practices and Fair Trading Acts.

The law firm and IMF Australia the organisation which is funding the litigation are set to reap as much as 25 per cent of all damages, and is fighting the case under a “no-win, no-fee” basis.

So far the class action litigation has attracted 150,000 claimants and it is expected that there will be a further significant spike in the number joining the claim.

“The liability is not capped because people can join the (ANZ) case until it’s resolved. We can’

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