KPMG probed over BAE audit October 25, 2010 AUDITORS at KPMG are to be investigated over their work for the arms-maker BAE Systems, an industry watchdog said yesterday. The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) will probe KPMG in relation to BAE’s payments through offshore companies between 1997 and 2007. The investigation follows on from BAE’s long-running corruption case linked to Saudi Arabian [...]
There is more to life than budget cuts October 25, 2010 FAR too much of the debate about spending cuts is being conducted in absurdly parochial terms. We are all obsessed with whether George Osborne’s tightening will boost or reduce growth next year – yet there is far too little focus on what other countries are doing on the budgetary front, let alone on longer-term economic [...]
Sir Fred’s sidekick returns October 25, 2010 A FORMER Royal Bank of Scotland executive who agreed never to work in the City following an FSA probe is to become a senior adviser to a small investment bank, it emerged last night. Johnny Cameron, who sat on the board of RBS alongside Sir Fred Goodwin at the time of the bank’s bail-out, struck [...]
Delek to list stocks in London October 25, 2010 Israeli energy, property and automotive group Delek is planning a public offering on the London Stock Exchange to raise between $400m and $500m. Citi, UBS and Deutsche Bank are lined up to underwrite the offering. Delek, which is already listed in Tel Aviv, has a market value of around $3.2bn. It is known for importing [...]
Collins Stewart’s Smith nets £7m October 25, 2010 Terry Smith, the outgoing deputy chairman of stockbroker Collins Stewart, has sold his entire beneficial holding of nearly 9m shares in the firm to net around £7.1m. The sale, which represents 3.6 per cent of the firm’s shares, comes less than two weeks after Smith announced his retirement.
Brit set to announce takeover October 25, 2010 Brit Insurance is expected to announce its £870m sale to private equity pair Apollo and CVC Capital today, at the same time as its third-quarter results. The Lloyd’s of London insurer and sponsor of the England cricket team agreed a deal in principle in September, with the joint buyers paying £10.45 a share.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 25, 2010 FIANACIAL TIMES DEBT MARKETS TAKE UNUSUAL TURN The abnormal state of credit markets came into focus yesterday as the US Treasury sold bonds with negative interest rates for the first time and Goldman Sachs prepared to sell its first 50-year debt deal. Both sales highlighted the difficult choices facing investors at a time when interest [...]
Diamond: Let bad banks go bankrupt… October 25, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond yesterday said no bank should ever again have to fall back on the taxpayer for a bailout, as he argued that the future stability of the banking system lies in the successful implementation of “living wills”. “Strong banks want strong regulation,” Diamond said, referring to the raft of regulatory changes currently [...]
…as King calls again for total banking split October 25, 2010 BANK of England governor Mervyn King called again yesterday for radical reform in the banking sector that would see some large institutions dismantled. King used a speech in New York to outline several options for the industry, including a capital ratio far above the levels set by the Basel III agreement last month, and a [...]
BP chief says rivals created fear over spill October 25, 2010 BP’s new chief executive said its rivals and the media had helped cause a climate of fear during the summer when the oil giant’s blown-out Gulf of Mexico well caused the worst ever oil spill in the United States. The comments by Bob Dudley represented the latest volley in BP’s battle to rebuild its battered [...]