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UPDATE 2-Russian economy stagnates as capital flight hits $75 billion

Russia's economy is stagnating as data showed on Wednesday that capital worth $75 billion has left the country so far this year following sanctions on Moscow over its involvement in Ukraine. "We have for now a period of stagnation, or a pause in growth," Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach was quoted as saying in an interview where he also said that GDP was flat from April to June after shrinking 0.5 percent in the first quarter. Klepach, speaking to Interfax news agency, noted that the second-quarter figure of zero growth over the three months, previously unpublished, indicated that Russia had avoided a "technical recession" - two successive quarters of GDP decline. But central bank data on capital flight showed investors are concerned about the state of the $2 trillion a year economy. Though the outflow slowed in the second quarter, the $75 billion that left in the six months to June already surpassed the $62.7 billion capital flight seen for the whole

FOREX-Dollar weakens against euro, yen as Fed remains dovish

The U.S. dollar weakened against the euro and the yen on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes kept a dovish tone in a statement that was devoid of any large surprises. The Fed has begun detailing how it plans to ease the U.S. economy out of an era of loose monetary policy, indicating it will end its asset purchases in October and appearing near agreement on a plan to manage interest rates, according to the minutes. "A lot of what was said in the FOMC minutes we already knew, and we knew quite well," said John Kicklighter, senior currency strategist at DailyFX in New York. The dollar fell to $1.3643 against the euro, from $1.3624 before the minutes were released. The greenback dropped to 101.57 yen against the Japanese currency, from 101.75 before the minutes. The dollar has struggled to break above relatively tight ranges against the euro and the yen as Treasuries yields stay relatively low, with investors looking for stronger signals that the e

BNP pleads guilty for 2nd time in $9 bln U.S. sanctions accord

BNP Paribas, for the second time in nine days, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, as part of a nearly $9 billion settlement in which the French bank admitted to breaking embargoes against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. Prosecutors had accused the bank of processing billions of dollars of transactions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudanese and others barred from doing so because of their countries' human rights abuses, support for terrorists and other national security concerns. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield accepted the plea at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The plea was entered by the bank's general counsel, Georges Dirani. BNP Paribas admitted to having conspired from 2004 to 2012 to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The U.S. Justice Department unveiled the record settlement on July 1, when the bank pleaded guilty in New York state court to charges of falsify

PwC must face $1 billion lawsuit over MF Global collapse

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected PricewaterhouseCoopers' request to dismiss a $1 billion lawsuit accusing the auditor of providing bad accounting advice that contributed to the October 2011 collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd, a brokerage run by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected PwC's argument that the MF Global's bankruptcy plan administrator, which brought the lawsuit, "stands in the shoes" of the company under the "in pari delicto" legal doctrine, and cannot recover because Corzine and other officials were also to blame for the collapse. Marrero has yet to review other PwC arguments for dismissal, including that the administrator had no authority to sue and did not show that the accounting advice was a "proximate" cause of MF Global's bankruptcy. A PwC spokesman had no immediate comment. The auditor's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The March 28

UPDATE 1-BNP pleads guilty again in $9 bln U.S. sanctions accord

BNP Paribas, for the second time in nine days, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, as part of a nearly $9 billion settlement in which the French bank admitted to breaking embargoes against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. Prosecutors had accused the bank of processing billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of the Sudanese and others barred because of human rights abuses, support for terrorists and other national security concerns. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield accepted the plea at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The plea was entered by the bank's general counsel, Georges Dirani. BNP Paribas admitted to having conspired from 2004 to 2012 to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The U.S. Justice Department unveiled the record settlement on July 1, when the bank pleaded guilty in New York state court to charges of falsifying business records and conspiracy brought by M

FOREX-Dollar trips over Fed minutes, Aussie eyes jobs test

The dollar started at one-week lows against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, coming under some pressure after minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting gave no clear indication on when interest rates will rise. The minutes confirmed that the Fed's monthly bond purchases would end in October and that policymakers debated about the complexities of unwinding a stimulus program that had flooded the financial system with over $2 trillion. Wall Street bounced back from a two-day selloff in the absence of any guidance on whether rates will be raised by mid-2015 as speculated, Treasury yields rose while the dollar was sold down. The dollar index shed about 0.2 percent to a one-week low of 79.983, where it hovered early in Asia. Benefiting from renewed softness in the greenback, the euro rose to a one-week high of $1.3649. "The market had likely positioned for a hawkish tone to the minutes given the upward revisions to Fed rate forecasts, as well as the fact that