Swannell is the right man for M&S August 23, 2010 WHEN I had breakfast with Robert Swannell, the newly appointed chairman of Marks & Spencer recently, it was clear that the former investment banker was in anything but wind down mode. After three decades of working on mergers and acquisitions, sometimes over seven-day weeks involving late nights, Swannell could have been forgiven for putting his [...]
BoE’s Weale warns of dip August 23, 2010 BRITAIN faces “significant” risk of a fresh slump into recession, a leading policymaker at the Bank of England admitted yesterday as independent economists slammed the Bank for its complacency in the face of savage public sector spending cuts. Dr Martin Weale, the newest member of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said it would be [...]
Fed loses bank disclosure appeal August 23, 2010 The Federal Reserve will have to appeal to the Supreme Court if it wants to avoid having to disclose details of its emergency lending programmes to banks bailed out with taxpayer money during the financial crisis. The US Court of Appeals denied the Fed’s motion on Friday to rehear the case in which Bloomberg, the [...]
Lloyd’s insurers in Stanford case August 23, 2010 Lloyd’s of London insurers will today try to save themselves $100m (£64m) in payouts to alleged fraudster Allen Stanford and his three associates by proving they are guilty of money laundering. Establishing guilt would mean the insurance companies will be able to begin clawing back the Stanford Financial?Group executives’ legal bills. Stanford, Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilbert [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES COMPANIES NOW TURN TO PRIVATE PLACEMENTS FOR FUNDING Private placement deals – whereby companies tap investors directly for loans – are on track for one of their strongest years, highlighting the extent to which companies are seeking to diversify their funding sources away from banks. Companies tapped the market for $27.4bn in the [...]
Rolet quits LCH amid LSE rival rumours August 23, 2010 XAVIER Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), has sensationally quit his position on the board of LCH.Clearnet, sparking rumours his firm is about to launch a rival clearing business. Rolet told LCH.Clearnet he was “too busy” to remain on the board. However a conflict of interests would arise if the LSE was [...]
Swannell plans to juggle HMV and Marks & Spencer roles August 23, 2010 FORMER dealmaker Robert Swannell will remain on the board of HMV after taking the chair of Marks & Spencer in January, it is understood. Swannell, whose appointment as Sir Stuart Rose’s replacement was confirmed yesterday, will divide his time between the structurally challenged music chain and the all-purpose retailer. He will step down from the [...]
Indian energy firms could muscle in on $10bn Vedanta bid for Cairn August 23, 2010 ALL options are open for Indian state energy firms to make a counter-bid to Vedanta Resources’ $9.6bn (£6.2bn) offer for control of Cairn India, an oil ministry source said. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Gail and Oil India are thought to be considering a joint bid for Cairn India, a unit of the UK’s [...]
HSBC first in line for stake in Nedbank August 23, 2010 HSBC yesterday confirmed it is in exclusive talks with insurer Old Mutual to acquire up to 70 per cent of the shares in Nedbank, South Africa’s fourth largest lender, in a bid to aggressively ramp up its offering in the country. The parties have not disclosed the terms of a potential deal, though analysts yesterday [...]
There is no need to tap shareholders August 23, 2010 IN the battle to become banker to the emerging markets, HSBC has won an important victory over Standard Chartered, its closest strategic rival. Having entered exclusive talks to buy Old Mutual out of Nedbank, HSBC looks set to take control of the South African bank. The logic of such a deal is not in doubt: [...]