UBS pledges not to pursue its former bosses and apologises for huge losses October 14, 2010 UBS has apologised for huge losses suffered during the US sub-prime crisis that forced a bailout of the Swiss bank, but refused to take legal action against former executives and board members. UBS lost billions of dollars during the global economic crisis and the confidence of many investors during a long tax row with Washington. [...]
Sanofi-Aventis will still proceed with hostile offer October 14, 2010 Sanofi-Aventis’ position remains unchanged regarding a $18.5bn (£11.6bn) hostile offer for Genzyme, Sanofi chief executive Chris Viehbacher said yesterday. “Our position was made very clear at the time we made the offer and nothing’s changed,” said Viehbacher yesterday when asked if anything had altered in his position since Sanofi denied floating the idea of an [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO THE NEW PENSION RULES MEAN? October 14, 2010 JOANNE SEGARS | NAPF Today’s announcement is a welcome and pragmatic approach that will help ensure that saving through a pension remains tax incentivised. The annual allowance, three-year carry forward, exclusion of ill-health retirement, and protection for deferred pensioners are sensible improvements. JOHN MORET | SUFFOLK LIFE The number of people who will be affected [...]
EU hedgie talks fail to strike accord October 14, 2010 Crucial talks to try to break a deadlock between France and the UK over new hedge find rules have ended in acrimony. France refused to accept a raft of compromise proposals put on the table by Belgium, which is currently the EU president. Its stubborn approach to thrashing out the new rules is said to [...]
Government wields axe on nearly 200 quangos and plans to merge many others October 14, 2010 ALMOST 200 quangos face the axe as part of government proposals to save millions of pounds while a further 481 face reform, the Cabinet office revealed yesterday. The closures will lead to thousands of job losses and are likely to create a substantial redundancy bill for the government, although it claimed yesterday in the long [...]
City unites against UK listing proposal October 14, 2010 THE City has roundly rejected the government’s proposal to merge the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) saying such a move would serve to fragment the regulation of the investment market and hurt investors and issuers. The proposal to merge the UKLA was put forward as part of the government’s consultation [...]
London’s firemen vote to go out on strike in dispute over shift changes October 14, 2010 London firefighters have voted to walk out in a dispute over changes to shift patterns but will not go ahead with the strike if dismissal letters to staff are withdrawn, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said on Thursday. The Fire Brigade, which has about 5,500 firefighters in London, wants to impose equal 12-hour day and [...]
Lloyd’s insurer Beazley loses cancer battle October 14, 2010 LLOYD’S of London insurer Beazley yesterday announced that its co-founder and deputy chairman Andrew Beazley had died aged 57, three years after first being diagnosed with cancer. Beazley was chief executive of the business for 22 years of its 24-year history. The group launched in 1986 and is now one of the largest names in [...]
Gap looks to international shops and internet to help boost sales October 14, 2010 AMERICAN clothing retailer Gap has projected that online and international sales will account for more than one-quarter of total net sales by its fiscal year 2013 as it expands its business overseas. Gap, which operates a namesake chain of clothing stores as well as the Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, said it expects to [...]
Assets jump at Ashmore October 14, 2010 SPECIALIST emerging markets fund manager Ashmore Group reported a significant rise in first quarter assets under management (AUM) yesterday, beating market expectations as Asian retail investors poured money into multi-strategy funds. It said AUM rose 18 per cent in the first three months to 30 September to $41.6bn (£26.2bn), against $35.3bn at 30 June. Net [...]