Hayward sent off to Siberia July 26, 2010 BP’S BELEAGUERED chief executive Tony Hayward will stand down in October and is expected to be nominated for a non-executive board directorship with TNK-BP, the group’s Russian joint venture. The oil major is set to announce Hayward’s departure this morning and will reveal that Mississippi-born Bob Dudley, the man in charge of the oil spill [...]
Basel rules overhauled to curb risk July 26, 2010 BANKS face a tough cap on leverage to stop them using off-balance sheet vehicles to hide their borrowings, under sweeping rules agreed by global regulators last night. Institutions will be asked to hold tier one capital equal to three per cent of their unweighted assets, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said. The ratio will [...]
Vince Cable’s confused bank rhetoric July 26, 2010 VINCE Cable was at it again yesterday, bashing the banks, calling for bonuses to be capped and for a new tax on their profits if they don’t lend more. It was a case of business as usual for the business secretary – or so we thought until we actually read Cable’s consultative green paper, on [...]
Basel III rules at a glance July 26, 2010 THE REGULATIONS EXPLAINED Q.WHAT IS BASEL III AND WHAT ARE ITS ROOTS? A.In the wake of the financial crisis, the G20 decided international capital and liquidity requirements for the banking sector were in need of a major overhaul. The original rules, known as Basel I, were drawn up in 1988 by a committee formed following [...]
AstraZeneca rises on Brilinta July 26, 2010 US reviewers gave mixed views on AstraZeneca’s experimental blood thinner Brilinta but the company’s shares rose on investor optimism that an advisory panel will back the potential blockbuster drug. AstraZeneca is counting on Brilinta to help offset the looming loss of patent protection on key drugs such as heartburn treatment Nexium and antipsychotic Seroquel. AstraZeneca [...]
Legg Mason profit falls on costs July 26, 2010 Legg Mason reported its quarterly earnings decreased more than expected as expenses rose and investors pulled money out of many of its funds yesterday. The US asset manager reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $47.9m (£30.9m), or 30 cents per share, compared with net income of $50.1m, or 35 cents per share, in the same [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES fears over china’s bad loans China’s banks are facing serious default risks on more than one-fifth of the Rmb7,700bn ($1,135bn) they have lent to local governments across the country, according to senior Chinese officials. In a preliminary self-assessment carried out at the request of the country’s regulator, China’s commercial banks have identified about [...]
Jain rejigs a key Deutsche bank division July 26, 2010 ANSHU Jain tightened his grip on Deutsche Bank’s investment bank by installing a 15-member management team of mostly company veterans, ahead of today’s second-quarter earning results. The changes introduced by Jain, who is favourite to succeed Josef Ackermann as Deutsche Bank’s chief executive, mark an evolution in Deutsche’s strategy, with the bank focused on corporate [...]
US new home sales surge in June as inventories contract July 26, 2010 SALES of new homes in the US rebounded in June from the previous month’s record low, providing a rare ray of light in an otherwise gloomy housing market. They jumped by 23.6 per cent last month to an annual rate of 330,000 units from a downwardly revised 267,000 units in May. The June rise was [...]
Unite to sue British Airways over removal of employee travel perks July 26, 2010 UNITE, the trade union representing 11,000 British Airways (BA) cabin crew, will launch a legal attack over the airline’s removal of travel perks from striking staff. The union said yesterday it believed BA management was “breaching European human rights legislation” when it cut travel concessions from cabin crew in March. BA and Unite have been [...]