USA

Shareholders sue FB, NYSE comes calling

The fallout from Facebook Inc’s (FB’s) messy initial public offering (IPO) widened on Wednesday as shareholders sued the social network and its bankers while a trading firm revealed a massive loss on the shares and threatened to seek remedies. The NASDAQ stock exchange also came under further pressure as NYSE Euronext had opened discussions with FB about a potential stock listing there. NASDAQ also faces litigation from angry investors. A lawsuit filed on Wednesday seeking class-action status alleged that defendants — including FB, its Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co — concealed a severe and pronounced reduction in revenue growth forecasts resulting from greater use of FB’s app or website through mobile devices.

Goldman sets $40 bln clean energy investment planGoldman Sachs Group Inc plans to channel investments totalling USD 40 billion over the next decade into renewable energy projects, an area the investment bank called one of the biggest profit opportunities since its economists got excited about emerging markets in 2001. Goldman executives said last week that demand for alternative energy sources will grow with global energy demand, and as big man-ufacturing countries, including China and Brazil, set more aggressive targets for reducing emissions. The bank plans to finance deals with clients’ money and, to a lesser extent, its own funds.

WORLD

Asian shares fall to 2012 lows as Europe worries weighAsian shares fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe’s raging debt crisis and weak global growth. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7 per cent, after edging up as much as 0.3 per cent earlier, hitting its lowest since late December as worries about a possible Greek exit from the Euro Zone continued to weigh on the market. The pan-Asia stock index was set for a third consecutive week of losses, its longest losing streak in six months. In late

February, it had been up some 15 per cent from 2011 end levels. Japan’s Nikkei stock average was flat, but looked set for its longest weekly losing run in 20 years. Data from the United States, China and Europe on Thursday underscored the damage the Euro Zone’s fiscal plight has inflicted on growth globally.

Syria would need $11.5 bln quickly post-Assad

Syria would need USD 11.5 billion in reconstruction funds in the first six months after the collapse of President Bashar

al-Assad’s rule, mainly to support its currency and pay public sector wages, the main Syrian opposition said on Thursday. The Syrian

National Council, whose inter-national support has been undermined by internal squabbling and power struggles, presented an economic reconstruction plan at a meeting of the Friends of Syria working group for economic recovery and development in the United Arab Emirates. The economic reconstruction plan would help to persuade Syrians wavering to join the opposition that it was thinking of their long-term interests, Farah Attasi, a member of the Syrian National Bloc, said.