Bramdean to decide Nicola Horlick’s fate June 21, 2009 CITY superwoman Nicola Horlick is to meet with the new board directors at Bramdean Alternatives this week to decide her fate, after property magnate Vincent Tchenguiz won a shareholder vote to oust the former management team last week. Tchenguiz was backed by 56 per cent of the shareholders in the vote on Thursday and the [...]
Sir Allen Stanford indicted and moved to Texas for $7bn Ponzi fraud hearing June 21, 2009 TEXAS billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, three associates and a top Caribbean regulator were indicted on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges in an elaborate $7bn (£4.2bn) pyramid scheme to con investors, according to US Justice Department officials. A federal judge in Virginia ordered Stanford, a flamboyant 59-year-old financier, to be transferred to Houston for a hearing [...]
LAPPING IT UP June 21, 2009 SPEARMINT Rhino, the chain of lapdancing clubs, has bucked the economic downturn despite remaining in loss for the year. The firm is undersood to have made a £23,209 loss for 2007/08 against a £24,000 loss the previous year. The flagship Tottenham Court Road venue made a £2.44m profit, up from £2.05m the previous year.
Goldman staff await bumper bonus payout June 21, 2009 INVESTMENT bankers at Goldman Sachs are expecting a bumper year for bonuses on the back of soaring profits at the Wall Street firm, in a sign that there will be no end to bumper payouts for bankers. The firm expects to book record profits for 2009, with revenues soaring due to dwindling competition and strong [...]
Trichet: Fiscal debt must now be the focus June 21, 2009 EUROPEAN Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday warned governments to stop getting deeper and deeper into debt while attempting to fight the economic crisis. He said that while the massive injections of funds into European economies were the appropriate response, public finances must be brought back under control. “There is a moment where you can’t [...]
City pair on Sainsbury’s shopping list June 21, 2009 THE race is on at J Sainsbury to choose a successor to replace Sir Philip Hampton as chairman before the retailer’s July annual meeting. The £5.6bn supermarket giant is understood to have shortlisted Burberry chairman John Peace and Thomson Reuters deputy chairman Niall FitzGerald. The search for the £396,000 a year post has been carried [...]
RBS Asia to be broken up before it can be sold off June 21, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland’s planned sale of its Asian operations looks to be running into trouble, after regulatory hurdles made it likely that the bank will have to break up the unit into several pieces. HSBC, Standard Chartered and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) were all circling the businesses, but interest is thought [...]
BAE vies for Indian jet fighter contract June 21, 2009 BAE Systems is in the running to supply India with over 130 fighter jets, in a deal which could win the company over £10bn. If India buys the controversial Eurofighter Typhoon plane, which is built by a four-nation consortium including the UK’s BAE, it will be one of the largest international arms deals in the [...]
Ball to stay in ITV recruitment race June 21, 2009 TELEVISION broadcaster ITV was at the weekend trawling through a list of potential candidates to be its new chief executive, though there were mixed messages surrounding former BSkyB boss Tony Ball, who has previously been touted as the favourite to succeed Michael Grade. Russell Reynolds, the headhunter hired to lead the search for the channel’s [...]
Markets revving up for race towards year-end June 21, 2009 THE British Grand Prix this weekend has me thinking in motor racing analogies as the financial markets apply the brakes to one of the speediest equity rallies of this generation. As the end of the second quarter approaches, the chicane of thin summertime volumes and quiet corporate activity means we’re unlikely to accelerate into the [...]