Enel IPO could signal return of fundraising October 17, 2010 ITALY’S Enel has valued its green energy arm at up to €10.5bn (£9.1bn), putting it on track to launch Europe’s biggest IPO in three years and signalling a possible recovery in equity issues. Enel, Europe’s most indebted utility, said it expects to bank up to €3.4bn from the listing of Green Power (EGP), which it [...]
Investors want clarity on tax and regulation October 17, 2010 AHEAD of this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review, the City of London has published a report looking into the predictability and competitiveness of the UK tax regime and how this impacts upon the financial services industry. The City understands and fully supports the government’s commitment to cutting the fiscal deficit. However, whilst increasing taxes and cutting [...]
Warning over Blackberry timewasting October 17, 2010 BRITISH bosses are banning Blackberries and other smart-phones over fears they cost more in lost productivity than they gain, according to employment law experts. Employers initially rushed to buy smartphones for staff as they allow users to send and receive emails when away from the office – keeping them in contact at all hours. But [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 17, 2010 BARCLAYS According to Evolution, the UK is most likely to follow Switzerland and implement higher minimum Core Tier 1 ratios. Barclays will have a roughly 8.7 per cent Core Tier 1 by 2012: if the “UK finish” is a 10 per cent ratio, Barclays will be £7bn short of capital. The broker warns a “deal-cum-rights-issue” [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 17, 2010 ICAP The inter-dealer broker has appointed Iain Torrens as group finance director, after incumbent Matthew Lester, pictured, said he would leave to take up a role as the next chief financial officer of Royal Mail. Torrens joined ICAP in 2006 and has been group financial controller since July 2008. Lester, who also formerly held senior [...]
China’s Mr Private Equity explains the new frontier’s hopes and risks October 17, 2010 VICTOR ZHIKAI Gao is staying at the Langham Hotel, down the road from the Chinese Embassy. Just off a plane from Beijing, and sipping green tea to stay ahead of his jet lag, he is in London to brief an investment bank on China’s rapidly developing private equity sector. Although jaded, he manages to be [...]
Enter the corporate entrepreneur: Britain’s best hope for real recovery October 17, 2010 CO-FOUNDER, MARKET GRAVITY THE UK’s recovery from the deepest recession in eighty years is dependent on sustained private sector growth. Corporate earnings may be recovering, but too much is due to cost cutting, not real growth, and this trend is not sustainable. Recent analysis from Market Gravity illustrates that while 75 per cent of FTSE [...]
WOLF WHISTLES FOLLOW STYLISH CITY LADIES DRESSED FOR SUCCESS October 17, 2010 WHERE does a City woman go when she needs to out-dress her TM-Lewin-clad male counterparts? Designer Britt Lintner – who is also still a full-time professional at hedge fund GLG – is making a new bid to make her clothes the ultimate go-to items, and she has recruited a line-up of swanky femme fatales from [...]
HSBC halts £5bn move for Nedbank stake October 15, 2010 HSBC has ended talks to pay $8bn (£5bn) for a majority stake in South African lender Nedbank from Old Mutual. HSBC had been in exclusive talks with Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual to buy up to 70 per cent of South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, and an eight-week period of exclusivity was due to end on [...]
Bernanke calls for new monetary stimulus package October 15, 2010 US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said high unemployment and low inflation point to a need for a further easing of US monetary policy, but said policymakers were still weighing how aggressive they should be. “There would appear – all else being equal – to be a case for further action,” Bernanke said in remarks [...]