Finance

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) chart of Greece in 2016 that PricewaterhouseCoopers presented on Wednesday showed that foreigners have been acquiring assets in Greece while Greeks have generally been selling.

Flickr/ Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

BELGRADE - George Soros's hedge fund was one of the biggest losers of 2016, as the Hungarian-born billionaire's misplaced investments turned into a $1 billion loss for his clients, according to a report by hedge fund investor LCH Investments, cited by Bloomberg.

The heavy atmosphere on the Greek bond market was severely aggravated on Tuesday not only by the German Finance Ministry's statement in favor of the International Monetary Fund's participation in the Greek program, but also by SYRIZA MP Nikos Xydakis's reference to a return to the drachma.

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $630 million in fines for organizing $10 billion in sham trades that could have been used to launder money out of Russia, the latest in a string of penalties that have hammered the German lender's finances.

German Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a fine of USD 630 M to regulators in the USA and Great Britain as penalty for not being able to prevent suspicious deals for USD 10 M.

This is the amount that was practically laundered outside of Russia, reported Reuters.

Moody's warned in a report published on Monday about the serious consequences the delay in the second bailout review will have on the implementation of plans for the reduction of bad loans, on banks meeting their profit targets and on their liquidity.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó couldn’t be clearer: the Hungarian government has declared a battle against organizations funded by George Soros. They are calling for transparency within foreign-backed NGOs operating in the country, something, however, that Brussels condemned.

Diners Club and Alpha Bank present the second installment of Dine Athens from Wednesday, February 1, to Sunday, February 12, a culinary event offering discounts and special menus at 120 select restaurants around the capital. The fixed-price menus are set at 15, 30 and 60 euros, and Diners Card holders are entitled to an additional 10 percent discount.

Greece's compliance with the terms of a memorandum it signed with US on security and terrorism will be evaluated in February, the Citizens' Protection Ministry has said.

According to a new agreement, which essentially validated and updated an earlier one from 2009,  Greek identity cards will soon be replaced by more secure biometric ones.

Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Turkey's sovereign debt to "junk" late on Jan. 27, snuffing out its last remaining investment grade by underlining deepening concerns over the country's political and security developments.

"Political and security developments have undermined economic performance and institutional independence," Fitch said in a statement.