Questions need to be asked of the former management of failed company South Canterbury Finance, says the Shareholders Association. Des Hunt, Shareholders Association corporate liaison director, said there was concern with activities in expanding the business and investing in areas known to be risky. “The questions would be why were they still [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK — The developers planning to build a $100 million Islamic center near the World Trade Center site still have financial hurdles to clear: They haven’t finished buying all the property they want for the project and are nearly a quarter-million dollars behind on real estate taxes and late [ Read More → ]

Valentina Morales isn’t worried about her retirement. In fact she’s not exactly sure what that is. What Valentina, 10, does know: Whatever it is, she will be OK. “It’s going to be a long time,” she said to her grandmother, Myriam Rodgers of Kendall. But in the meantime, “I’d like to be a [ Read More → ]

AMSTERDAM — , the Dutch bank and insurance company, Wednesday reported a sharp rise in second quarter earnings, mostly because it avoided some of the losses it made a year ago on stocks, bonds, and real estate-related investments. Net profit was euro1.09 billion ($1.44 billion), up from euro79 million in the [ Read More → ]

In the real estate world, there was one word that used to be the cardinal rule: location, location, location. Just about anybody — the informed and uninformed — could buy a house in a good location and easily make money by flipping, selling or refinancing the home, sometimes after just a [ Read More → ]

Dentistry in Thailand, with holiday included, can be so much cheaper than having it done in New Zealand. Photo / NZ Herald Rip-offs in New Zealand are big news, following an opinion piece in this newspaper by UK sports writer Peter Bills. It’s an issue that anyone who keeps an eye on [ Read More → ]

The housing crash has left at least 11 million people in the unenviable position of owing more on their homes than they are worth—and many more millions with properties worth far less than they paid for them. But some might not be as trapped as they think. Record-low mortgage rates and a [ Read More → ]

The number of Massachusetts residents filing for bankruptcy soared in the first half of 2010, as the continued weak economy left thousands of homeowners unable to pay their mortgages or sell their properties. Nearly 12,000 people filed for bankruptcy in the first six months of this year, 25 percent more than [ Read More → ]

SITUATION Affluent couple wants cash for big spending plans STRATEGY Structure investments for less future risk SOLUTION Reduced income volatility, smoother cash flow — In Toronto, a couple we’ll call Jonas, 44, and Anna, 41, have achieved material success. Jonas, a real estate broker, and Anna, a corporate manager, have combined take home pay [ Read More → ]

European equities markets were higher Friday, with gains coming on hopes that the economic recovery is proceeding in a healthy manner. The FTSE 100 added 0.54 percent to 5,132.94 in London, while the FTSE 250 was 0.27 percent higher to 9,745.79 as the Office for National Statistics said that producer prices [ Read More → ]