Banks told to cut bonuses November 14, 2012 UK banks have been told by regulators to ensure employee bonuses are kept down to reflect the industry’s recent mis-selling and rate-fixing scandals, a source confirmed last night. Letters sent last month by the Financial Services Authority to all bank chief executives also told the institutions they should set an example and “claw back” past [...]
Spotify valued at $3bn November 14, 2012 MUSIC streaming service Spotify has been valued at $3bn (£1.9bn) after completing a new round of funding yesterday. The loss-making Swedish company, led by 29-year-old Daniel Ek (pictured), raised $100m from a group of investors including Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola. The firm charges £9.99/month for unlimited access to millions of tracks.
Cocos are gogo as buyers flood Barclays’ issue November 14, 2012 BARCLAYS’ groundbreaking new contingent convertible bonds – cocos – received an enthusiastic welcome from investors, in a very positive sign for the market as banks will have to increase issuance of the instruments. The bank is raising $3bn (£1.89bn) in the 10-year instruments, with a face yield of 7.625 per cent. But with the final [...]
Jury retires to consider verdict in trial of ex-UBS trader Adoboli November 14, 2012 THE jury in the London trial of former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli, who is blamed for a loss of $2.3bn, retired yesterday to consider its verdicts. Adoboli, 32, denies two charges of fraud by abuse of position and four charges of false accounting, covering the period from October 2008 to his arrest on 15 September [...]
John Lewis boss urges action on foreign firm tax payments November 14, 2012 THE managing director of retail chain John Lewis last night called on the government to examine the way foreign multinationals pay tax in the UK. Andy Street said the Treasury needs to do more to prevent the likes of online retailer Amazon “destroying the UK tax base” and potentially putting British companies out of business. [...]
Firms hail new watered down approach to EU board quotas November 14, 2012 FIRMS and equality groups yesterday welcomed the European Commission’s decision to water down its quotas plan, saying the voluntary approach was working. The European Commission (EC) decided to scrap its original plan to impose 40 per cent quotas on firms, replacing it with a 40 per cent target. The EC will require member states to [...]
Sainsbury wins shoppers over with coupons November 14, 2012 J SAINSBURY boss Justin King said the supermarket’s Nectar data and coupon-at-till scheme would give it the edge over rivals ahead of another competitive christmas, as it reported a rise in half-year profit. Britain’s third largest supermarket beat forecasts with a five per cent rise in first-half profit to £373m, driven by convenience store growth [...]
Glencore and Xstrata deal edges closer to approval November 14, 2012 THE £56bn mega-merger between Glencore and Xstrata is edging closer to reality, after shareholders look set to give it the go-ahead. Qatar Holding, Xstrata’s second-largest shareholder, was last night reported to be on the verge of approving the bid from Glencore, although Qatar itself refused to comment. The reports came as investment bank Macquarie also [...]
Man United nets record income after growing sponsorship cash November 14, 2012 MANCHESTER United last night announced record revenues, allowing the football club to pay down some of the debt that has bedeviled it since 2005. The team play away at Norwich City this weekend but yesterday’s trading update was issued in the very different world of Wall Street, following the club’s August IPO on the New [...]
CEO blamed for MF Global November 14, 2012 BLAME for the collapse of derivatives broker MF Global lies with former chief executive Jon Corzine, according to a US congress investigation released today. It concludes poor management decisions were to blame for the October 2011 failure of the firm, which left $1.6bn (£1bn) of customer funds missing. MF Global collapsed after disclosing it had [...]