Dimon ally quits JP Morgan to go to Carlyle Group March 25, 2014 PRIVATE equity firm Carlyle Group yesterday named as co-president and co-chief operating officer JP Morgan’s Michael Cavanagh, who had been considered a leading contender to succeed the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon. Cavanagh is currently co-head of JP Morgan’s corporate and investment bank. His move to Carlyle is a testament to the rise of alternative asset [...]
Facebook in $2bn virtual reality buyout March 25, 2014 SOCIAL media giant Facebook has bought Oculus, a virtual reality gaming firm, for $2bn. The shock deal saw Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pay $400m in cash and 23.1m in Facebook shares, as well as a $300m cash incentive if certain key milestones are reached. “Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 26 March 2014 March 25, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Banks pay out $100bn in US fines Wall Street banks and their foreign rivals have paid out $100bn in US legal settlements since the financial crisis, according to Financial Times research, with more than half of the penalties extracted in the past year. The sum reflects a substantial shift in political attitudes towards [...]
Treasury selling £4.2bn of stock in Lloyds Bank March 25, 2014 LLOYDS is taking another step towards privatisation as the government last night announced it is selling another 7.5 per cent stake in the bank. The 5.35bn shares are worth around £4.2bn at last night’s closing price of 79.1p – firmly above the 73p the government paid for the stock. However, the large placement of shares [...]
Miliband faces Labour revolt in the commons over welfare cap March 25, 2014 AS MANY as 20 Labour MPs are set to defy leader Ed Miliband in a vote in the House of Commons today on the welfare cap. The vote, which the Labour party is supporting, has been called by the government as a result of the Budget last week and will limit Whitehall spending unless a [...]
Million homes must be built to meet need March 25, 2014 THE HOUSE price boom is accelerating rapidly, official figures showed yesterday, as influential economist Kate Barker and the Home Builders’ Federation warned 1m more homes are needed to stop a housing crisis. Prices in London shot up 13.2 per cent in the 12 months to January, even faster than the 12.3 per cent rise through [...]
Falling inflation signals end of wage squeeze March 25, 2014 REAL wages for average UK workers look set to finally begin rising once again, with earnings ticking upwards and inflation down to the lowest level in more than four years. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by only 1.7 per cent in the year to February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday. Inflation [...]
Bank run hits rural China after deposit safety fears spread March 25, 2014 PANIC over the financial health of two small banks prompted a run on them in provincial eastern China yesterday. There were bank runs on both the Jiangsu Sheyang Rural Commercial Bank and the Rural Commercial Bank of Huanghai, with residents flooding to reclaim their investments. The People’s Bank of China has said that it is [...]
Dovish bankers show support for easing euro March 25, 2014 TWO OF the more hawkish members of the European Central Bank (ECB) governing council hinted at further monetary easing yesterday, mentioning negative deposit rates and outright quantitative easing (QE). Jens Weidmann of Germany’s Bundesbank said first that QE was not “out of the question”, having previously questioned whether it would be legitimate for the ECB. [...]
Union threatens walkouts over Royal Mail cuts March 25, 2014 ROYAL MAIL yesterday unveiled plans to axe 1,600 jobs, a move that one union warned could provoke strikes. The postal company, which said during its privatisation in October that it would be cutting costs, confirmed yesterday the job losses will hit managers in operations and head office. Royal Mail said that it has “a strong [...]