Wachovia is waiving all prepayment fees associated with its “Pick-A-Pay” mortgage program to help customers cope with declining home values and the credit crunch.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil.

The global economy may be close to a “tipping point” that could see it enter a slowdown so severe that it transforms the current period of rising inflation into a period of falling prices, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Monday.

Major changes to the Irish VAT on Property regime will take effect from tomorrow, Tuesday 1st July, changing the treatment of VAT for residential and commercial property owners, investors and landlords. Persons buying or investing in property must make sure they or their professional advisors are fully aware of how the regime impacts on a transaction, or they could incur unexpected payments at a later stage.

Major changes to the Irish VAT on Property regime will take effect from tomorrow, Tuesday 1st July, changing the treatment of VAT for residential and commercial property owners, investors and landlords. Persons buying or investing in property must make sure they or their professional advisors are fully aware of how the regime impacts on a transaction, or they could incur unexpected payments at a later stage.

Asia-Pacific Business & Finance News Week-Ending June 28, 2008 - principal news stories from the region.

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center will be pushed back into the next decade and will cost up to $3 billion more than planned. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is set to release a report detailing significant delays and cost overruns on construction.

Angelo Mozilo, slated to step down as Countrywide’s chief executive on Tuesday, is departing with a devalued reputation partly because he stayed too long and at times ran the publicly traded mortgage lender as if it were his own company.

 Irish Economy: The CSO reported today that in the first quarter of 2008 GDP decreased by 1.5 per cent at constant prices compared with the same period in 2007 while GNP increased by 0.8 per cent in volume over the same period. The profits of foreign owned enterprises are excluded from GNP. GNP is also affected by other income flows between residents and non-residents and the timing of these flows can be variable.

The annual growth rate in Irish residential mortgages in May 2008 fell to 11.1 per cent, according to the Central Bank - the lowest rate since January 1992. Demand for private-sector credit continued to slow in May, with the annual rate of increase declining to 15.1 per cent. Non-mortgage credit expanded at an annual rate of 18.2 per cent. May recorded the highest monthly increase in residential mortgages in 2008 to date of €1.3 billion.