US authorities charged 29 people with smuggling $325 million in counterfeit consumer goods from China, including phony Nike sneakers and Coach handbags, through a New Jersey port.

US busts 29 for Chinese knock-offs

Business Standard

The 20 richest people on Earth lost a combined $11.3 billion yesterday as global markets fell after European economic growth slowed and investors weighed Greece&rsquo;s chances of getting bondholders to accept a debt swap.

World's richest lose $11.3 bn, Mittal falls off index

HSBC Holdings, Europe&rsquo;s largest bank by market value, agreed to sell some of its general insurance units in Asia and Latin America for about $914 million, as it focuses on more profitable businesses.

HSBC to sell insurance units to AXA, QBE for $914 mn

Twenty-six years after helping to design the London interbank offered rate, Britain's bank lobbyists are distancing themselves from their creation amid regulatory investigations and lawsuits.

UK bank group backs away from Libor

Debra Treyz said she may save one family millions in taxes on assets the Hong Kong-based parents are leaving to their US children.

Tax hunt pushes global rich to offshore trusts

Google Inc., stepping up competition with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in digital media, unveiled a site called Google Play that lets users get Android applications, music, books and movies in one place.

Google creates hub for buying apps, entertainment in one place

Apple Inc, set to release a new iPad tablet on Wednesday, doesn&rsquo;t have an Android-based competitor with more than five per cent of the market, Forrester Research Inc said in a report published on Tuesday.

Apple to release new iPad

Asia-focussed hedge funds that were started with the help of a major backer after the 2008 credit crisis are shutting down as a shrinking pool of key investors makes it harder for them to raise capital.

Asia hedge fund startups falter, backers pull cash

European services and manufacturing output shrank more than estimated in February as the euro area economy struggled to rebound from a contraction in the fourth quarter.

European PMI falls more than estimated 

Service industries in the US unexpectedly expanded in February at the fastest pace in a year as orders picked up for a fourth straight month.

Services in US expand in Feb at fastest pace in a year

Automobile sales in China, the world&rsquo;s biggest car market, may be having their worst start in seven years as a slowing economy and record gasoline prices keep consumers away from dealerships.

Car sales seen having worst start since 2005 

BlackRock Inc's Laurence D Fink said savers need to become more aggressive investors as returns on bank accounts and Treasuries shrink and people grow older.

'Savers need to become investors in new world'

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday he thinks he can reach a deal with the opposition to double the five per cent consumption tax in order to shore up the country's social security system.

Japan may double consumption tax: Noda

BBA Aviation Plc, the world&rsquo;s biggest provider of bases for business jets, plans to spend $300 million on US acquisitions this year as demand for private planes in emerging markets remains in its infancy.

Florida beats Asia in private business jet use

BP Plc said it had reached a $7.8-billion settlement with businesses and individuals over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, removing one of three major litigation fronts facing the company over the biggest offshore spill in US history.

BP reaches $7.8-bn deal with victims of oil spill

China's non-manufacturing industries contracted for the first time in three months in February, adding to signs the world's second-biggest economy is weakening.

Non-manufacturing index of China falls

Sister Inmaculada Torano, a 47-year- old Spanish nun, stepped in to negotiate when Bankia (IBEX) SA tried to repossess the home of a student at the school where she works over missed mortgage payments.

'Spain foreclosures stymied by nun make debt investors skittish'

Indians sip only two litres of beer a year, just one-twentieth the amount consumed by Chinese and less than one-fortieth by Americans. SABMiller Plc, Anheuser- Busch InBev and Carlsberg see that as an opportunity.

Kingfisher tops rivals in India's beer market

European banking shares were upgraded by Goldman Sachs Group Inc analysts, who said they anticipate a boost in liquidity and profit from the European Central Bank&rsquo;s (ECB) three-year loans.

European banks upgraded by Goldman analysts

Overseas funds bought a net Rs 651 crore ($133 million) of equities yesterday, taking their total investments in equities this year to Rs 36,220 crore, according to the nation&rsquo;s market regulator.

Foreign investors buy net Rs 651 crore of stocks

A California state senator plans to arrive at a press conference at the Sacramento capitol on Thursday in a Google Inc-modified Toyota Prius that drives itself.

Bloomberg