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Finance
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Turkcell Sues MTN For $4,2 Billion
30 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
Well, this doesn’t look good: Turkcell is suing MTN for $4,2 billion. Turkcell has decided to act on its claims that MTN bribed officials, arranged meetings between Iranian and South African leaders, and promised Iran weapons as well as UN votes, all in exchange for a licence to offer cellphone services in Iran.
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Ex-Goldman Sachs Employee, Greg Smith, Shopping For Book Deal
26 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Greg Smith, the South African-born ex-Goldman Sachs executive who resigned this month, and went on to launch a scathing attack on Goldman’s culture in the New York Times, is seeking a deal to write a book about his experiences there.
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Wounded Auction Alliance Slowly Staggers On
26 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Rael Levitt is apparently readying himself to expose widespread corruption across the auctioneering industry in an attempt to save himself, but there’s still little word on exactly where he is. All the while, other skeletons seem to be freely emerging from the cupboard too.
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Goldman Sachs Starts Scanning Emails For The Term “Muppet”
22 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
After South African-born Greg Smith sent a scornful resignation op-ed to the New York Times last week, Goldman Sachs will now undertake a company-wide email review. They’ll be searching for terms like “muppet”, and other things that may help to reveal disgruntled employees.
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Gauteng Motorists Face Possible 61 Cent Petrol Price Hike
19 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Well, that isn’t good news. Especially with e-tolling getting closer. The projected hike next month would mean an increase of virtually 10 per cent on the current price, and would bring the cost of 95 octane in Gauteng to R11.84 a litre. Comparatively, the average price per litre in the UK is about R16.44.
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First Goldman Sachs, Now JPMorgan Chase; Second Honest Banker Shows Himself
16 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
This really is quite something. One might even say a “trend” is occurring. Following the publication of a whistleblowing letter by an ex-Goldman Sachs employee in the New York Times, a second honest banker has emerged. He works at JPMorgan Chase, and wrote his letter to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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BREAKING: Auction Alliance On Brink Of Collapse As Staff Flee
15 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 7 Comments
A report this morning indicated that a “large contingent” of the Johannesburg Auction Alliance sales staff were set to resign. They were reported to be “in talks” with Aucor yesterday about them looking for new jobs. Much more seems to have happened today, though.
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South African Goldman Sachs Exec Exposes The Rot In His Firm
15 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Goldman Sachs lost $2,2 billion of its market value yesterday after Greg Smith – a South African-born Goldman “big shot” in Europe – chose to resign and write an opinion piece letter about Goldman’s corporate culture to the New York Times.
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Mandela’s Grandson Charged With Fraud
08 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Earlier this week, 2oceansVibe reported that possible charges of fraud were to be brought against Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela. We can now confirm that charges have been laid against him, as well as an Aurora Empowerment Systems lawyer, who also happens to be a director of Velvet Sky Aviation.
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Mandela And Zuma To Face Aurora Music
06 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The liquidators of Aurora Empowerment Systems, which is accused of asset-stripping bankrupt Pamodzi Gold, amongst other dubious activities, will lay charges of fraud this week against Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa. President Jacob Zuma’s nephew should probably also look forward to facing some music.
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Absa, Nedbank, FNB And Investec Stop Doing Business With Auction Alliance
01 Mar 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
Pending the outcome of investigations into claims of staff receiving kickbacks for preferential treatment, Absa, Nedbank, First National Bank and Investec have all stopped doing business with Auction Alliance. The latest development comes after news broke earlier in the week, that Auction Alliance CEO, Rael Levitt, had relinquished his post.
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D-Day For Greek Bailout
20 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Today, Euro zone finance ministers will meet to decide whether Greece has done enough to warrant a huge bailout loan of €130 billion. Greece needs the loan in order to avoid bankruptcy midway through March, when a massive repayment on its governmental debt must be completed.
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Absa IT Staff Start Packing Their Bags – Today, Tomorrow, Together
17 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Absa’s HR department must be in a world of pain. The bank has told its full IT staff complement to reapply for their jobs, and look for two other roles within the company. Of Absa’s 1 600 IT personnel, about 200 are currently sitting at home on the company’s payroll, twiddling their thumbs as they await “reassignment”. No wonder I’m still waiting for my online banking issues to be fixed.
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Murray And Roberts Will Build Cape Town’s Tallest Building
16 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 2 Comments
Cape Town’s new tallest building is set to start taking shape as construction group Murray and Roberts have been awarded the R1,6 billion contract to build the Portside Project. It’s set to stand at 130 metres tall, comprising of 32 floors, and will house 52 000 square metres of office space for 3 000 people.
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SAA: Please May We Have R6 Billion?
15 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
South African Airways has asked the government, sorry, the taxpayer that doesn’t get a say, for a recapitalisation of about R6 billion to fund operational costs, growth strategy and a fleet renewal for the coming future. Why? Because it would post a loss this financial year if this doesn’t happen, and growth is important.
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Nelson Mandela’s Face To Replace Animals On SA Bank Notes
13 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
President Jacob Zuma made a very cool announcement this weekend on the 22nd anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. Towards the end of this year South Africa will get a series of new bank notes which will have Madiba’s image as the main illustration instead of the animals we’ve come to know.
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The iPhone Is Bigger Than The Whole Of Microsoft
06 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
In the December business quarter, Apple’s iPhone business generated $24,4 billion of revenue. Microsoft’s whole company, from Windows to Office to servers to Xbox, generated just $20,9 billion.
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UPDATED: The ASA Has Ruled In Favour Of Frankies: Woolworths Must Remove Its Retro Drinks
01 Feb 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 4 Comments
Frankies Olde Soft Drink Company CEO, Mike Schmidt, has today revealed the small beverage manufacturer has won its case against the larger retailer. Early reports indicated that Woolworths would need to remove its entire range indefinitely, but instead it will only need to repackage its products and remove the slogan: “Good Old Fashioned”. You can read the full Advertising Standards Authority report by following this link.
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Bank Cancels The Debts Of Its Poorest Customers
31 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The dislike for banks and other financial institutions is currently on a worldwide high. But for once, one bank has decided to do something nice for their customers. French bank Crédit Municipal de Paris has scrapped the debt of its poorest customers.
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Construction Will Begin On The Chapman’s Peak Office Block This Week
30 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Preparation at the site designated for the Chapman’s Peak four-lane toll plaza and office complex began last week, with official construction beginning this week. Estimates put completion of the complex to happen around Easter next year.
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You’ll Be Able To Buy Facebook Shares Soon
30 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Facebook, the world’s largest social-networking service, could file for its initial public offering as early as Wednesday this week. It’s a move that has been on the cards for some time, but the rumour pot is now starting to boil more consistently.
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Awesome Fundraising Is Awesome
27 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Not even 24 hours ago, a user of the popular user-generated news link website, reddit, asked if readers wouldn’t mind helping out with a donation for an orphanage in Kenya. Humans went over and above what was required, by a long way. This is awesome.
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The iPad Outsold Desktop PC’s During The Last Quarter Of 2011
25 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Apple announced some massive fourth quarter sales numbers yesterday. For instance, they sold virtually as many iPhones as there are people in South Africa during that period. Apple also doubled both revenue and profit year-on-year too.
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Greece Publishes Tax Dodger List
24 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / 1 Comment
Greeks are amongst the most notorious tax dodgers in the world. Currently, Greece has about 60 billion Euros in unpaid taxes outstanding – a figure equivalent to about a quarter of its total economy. Athens decided to release a list on Sunday that published the names of some of the 4 000 known dodgers.
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South Africa Might Still Get A Warship
19 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
And guess who’s got a finger in that pie? None other than convicted fraudster, Tony Yengeni. Granted it probably won’t be a very big warship, if we can really even call it that, but it has the potential to cost even more than the four frigates we bought as part of the controversial 1999 R60 billion arms deal.
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State Owned Enterprises Battle To Be Profitable
17 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
The South African Institute of Race Relations is reporting that only five of the nine state owned enterprises reporting to the Department of Public Enterprises were profitable in the 2009 – 2010 financial year. The taxpayer makes up for the shortfalls.
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How Much Facebook Is Worth And Other Interesting Facts [INFOGRAPHIC]
13 Jan 2012 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
This year Facebook will go public and start to sell shares on the stock exchange. Thanks to all of us, the social network is now worth $100 billion – more than giants such as Google, Disney, Amazon, and McDonald’s. But who is going to pocket all this money? Check out this infographic, detailing which Facebook friends will be getting pieces of the pie, as well as some other interesting facts:
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Investec Establishing €100 Million Energy Fund
02 Dec 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Investec has joined forces with the European Investment Bank to establish a funding facility that will promote energy efficiency and the generating of clean energy in South Africa. The venture will be rolled out to support various kinds of renewable energy projects across the country.
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PayPal Launches Facebook App
18 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
Happy birthday Facebook wall posts just got interesting. It probably won’t be long before one starts scrolling through those birthday wall posts to see who has sent a greeting card with a little bit of a surprise attached. Tech-savvy grannies everywhere will be rejoicing.
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Greek Referendum On Bailout Threatens New Euro Zone Crisis
01 Nov 2011 by Jasmine Stone / No Comments
George Papandreou’s shock announcement that he will put Greece’s bailout to a referendum helped the FTSE open nearly three per cent down this morning. It was interesting listening to Lindsay Williams on 2oceanVibe Radio a little earlier too. He remarked that there are more Porsche Cayennes registered in Greece than taxpayers declaring an income of 50 000 euros or more. Clearly Greeks aren’t fans of paying tax.
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