Lone Star eyes IKB bank sale October 13, 2010 Lone Star is getting ready to sell German bank IKB and could strike a deal in the first quarter of 2011, providing an opportunity for lenders to gain a foothold in Europe’s largest economy. Lone Star’s European head Bruno Scherrer told a German newspaper the US-based private equity house is getting ready to shop around [...]
SEC sets limits on derivatives industry in US October 13, 2010 THE top US securities regulator last night took its first stab at policing the $615 trillion (£387 trillion) over-the-counter derivatives market with a plan to mitigate conflicts of interests at venues that will handle the swaps. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5-0 to propose ownership limits on the swaps trading venues and clearinghouses, which [...]
FinnCap hires finance director October 13, 2010 SMALL CAP broker finnCap has appointed former fund manager Tom Hayward as its new finance director, as the next step in its development as an independent firm. FinnCap, led by chief executive Sam Smith and chaired by private equity veteran Jon Moulton, hired Hayward from Herald Investment Management, a fund management group specialising in the [...]
Autonomy wins contract from UK finance regulator October 13, 2010 Software group Autonomy said yesterday it had signed a major deal with a UK regulator, believed to be the Financial Services Authority. The group, whose share price fell after it revised its sales estimates down by three per cent last week, said it had entered into “a multi-million dollar agreement with a UK regulatory authority [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 13, 2010 ATKINS Brewin Dolphin has downgraded the design and engineering firm to “reduce” from “hold” with an unchanged target price of 675p, ahead of the government spending review this month. The broker believes that any upside from the firm’s recent acquisition of American peer PBSJ will be offset by spending cuts. Brewin sees scope for a [...]
Hochschild ups Peru stake £10m October 13, 2010 South American precious metals producer Hochschild has doubled its interest in a gold and silver mining project in Peru, it said yesterday, paying $15m (£10m) for a 60 per cent controlling interest to joint venture partner International Minerals Corporation (IMZ). The London-listed firm also acquired a 3.2 per cent stake in IMZ through a private [...]
ISA allowance to rise from April October 13, 2010 The Individual Savings Account (ISA) limit will be increased by £470 in April next year, the government has confirmed. The increase is in line with the rate of inflation of 3.1 per cent in September as previously announced in the Budget. The increase means the amount savers can put into a stocks and shares ISA [...]
UK start-ups at record high October 13, 2010 The number of new UK business start-ups reached 204,361 in the first half of 2010, the largest number for well over a decade, a report said yesterday. Business support group Yoodoo, which analysed Companies House data said there was a 51 per cent increase in the number of new businesses being created, compared to the [...]
Tech firms get finance boost October 13, 2010 FINANCE firms replacing their computing infrastructure is driving a surge in the technology industry, according to Intel’s European boss Tristan Wilkinson. A number of major UK?finance firms have updated their systems to cope with increasing demand for high speed transactions, after a two-year lag caused by the recession. Intel on Tuesday reported a third successsive [...]
Intel will finally enter tablet and phone markets October 13, 2010 INTEL is “in talks” with manufacturers and will soon belatedly enter the smartphone and tablet markets. The chip maker has been left behind in the market for mobile devices, which has grown exponentially since the launch of Apple’s iPad and the growing range of next-generation smartphones. Intel’s European boss Tristan Wilkinson told City A.M. the [...]