Government must decide on horseracing levy size November 1, 2010 THE government was forced to step in yesterday to decide the level of funding for British horseracing after the deadline for the industry and bookmakers to come to an agreement passed without striking a deal. The annual scheme, known as the horseracing levy, sees bookmarkers give up 10 per cent of their profits from horseracing [...]
State Street will run national pension fund November 1, 2010 The new national pension scheme for workers with no retirement provision yesterday said it had appointed State Street to administer its funds and was seeking managers for five investment mandates. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) said US group State Street will provide administration and custody services for 10 years. Boston-based State Street is one [...]
China’s ICBC buys Fortis US broker November 1, 2010 INDUSTRIAL & Commercial Bank of China, the world’s biggest lender by market value, paid a token $1 for a small US brokerage firm, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. Beijing-based ICBC is buying the prime dealer services unit of Fortis Securities from BNP Paribas, allowing France’s biggest-listed bank to [...]
Bats Europe bemoans slow progress on clearing November 1, 2010 A lack of competition among Europe’s clearing houses is holding back growth of the region’s equity market, the chief executive of ultra-fast trading platform Bats Europe said yesterday. Trading firms and exchanges are keen to offer clients a choice of providers in the hope competition will force fees lower – but the clearers have yet [...]
Intel on track to launch new tablet chips November 1, 2010 Intel is on track to launch an improved chip platform aimed at the fast-expanding tablet market, where so far it has trailed nimble competitors that specialise in cheap low-power processors. Code-named Oak Trail and due to begin shipping in early 2011, the chips have much-improved energy efficiency and hold their own compared to processors made [...]
AIG completes $16bn sale of Alico to Metlife November 1, 2010 TROUBLED US insurer American International Group (AIG) announced the sale of its life insurance business America Life Insurance Corporation (Alico) to Metlife yesterday in a deal worth $16.2bn (£10.1bn). The sale means AIG has now raised $37bn towards repaying US taxpayers after the government launched a $180bn bailout package to save the company in 2008. [...]
Graduate unemployment hits high November 1, 2010 Unemployment for recent graduates has risen to the highest level in 17 years, according to an educational charity. Almost nine per cent of 2009 graduates were out of work in January 2010, the Higher Education Careers Services Unit said, meaning more than 21,000 students have not found a job. This compares to 7.9 per cent [...]
No mass sale of public property November 1, 2010 The civil servant in charge of the public property estate yesterday ruled out the sale of core assets as part of the government’s spending review. “The public sector should try to own the core estate,” said John McCready at a conference, adding that state-owned property would only be sold where they were “non-core” or where [...]
BHP must up its Potash bid, says investor November 1, 2010 BHP BILLITON came under further pressure to increase its $39bn (£24.7bn) bid for Potash Corp yesterday, as a hedge fund and several analysts spoke out on the likelihood of the deal’s success. Sources familiar with the firm said BHP Billiton was unlikely to raise its $130 a share offer until it had cleared regulatory hurdles [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHERE DO YOU SEE THE BHP BID FOR POTASH GOING? November 1, 2010 CHARLIE GIBSON | EDISON MINING The challenge will be on the PR front, and how Canadians view BHP. Canada doesn’t have a bad record when it comes to protectionism, and the fact that BHP is an Anglo-American company can only help. TOM GIDLEY-KITCHIN | CHARLES STANLEY The decision tomorrow is the crucial point. If the [...]