Star chamber will work with ministers on reducing budgets June 6, 2010 THE chancellor is planning to overhaul the way the comprehensive spending review is carried out by creating a new “star chamber” that will question ministers over their departmental budgets. City A.M. understands the chamber will be staffed by “big beasts” like Ken Clarke and William Hague, who will test the spending decisions of their colleagues. [...]
Trichet set to face heat over Greek bonds June 6, 2010 EUROPEAN Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet is set to come under fire this week for the bank’s decision to buy Greek bonds. At the bank’s last meeting he coolly dismissed speculation the ECB was discussing buying Greek bonds – only to reverse the decision a few days later. The ECB felt it had to step [...]
WAS THE ECB RIGHT TO BUY GREEK BONDS? June 6, 2010 ELGA BARTSCH | MORGAN STANLEY “Sterilisation is intended to be a signalling device that its bond purchase programme is not meant to be expansionary monetary policy. Otherwise it would be putting its credibility at risk. If there is a need to push liquidity into the markets then the ECB should consider new refinancing operations.” JENNIFER [...]
Pru investors to rebel over executive pay June 6, 2010 THREE major investors are voting against Prudential’s remuneration package, heaping more misery on the embattled firm. Aviva Investors, Schroders and Co-operative Investments, all top 40 investors, say the awards being offered to two new executives, which have come under scrutiny lucrative “golden hello” deals, are unacceptable. The remuneration package is still expected to pass at [...]
Thiam to say sorry at AGM June 6, 2010 PRUDENTIAL chief executive Tidjane Thiam will apologise to shareholders today for wasting more than £450m in the course of the insurer’s disastrous AIA bid. He and other senior Prudential figures will come face-to-face with shareholders for the first time since the embarrassing collapse of the $35.5bn (£25bn) bid. In what promises to be a fractious [...]
Chloride set for higher bid June 6, 2010 EMERSON ELECTRIC, the American manufacturing and technology giant, will this week step up its pursuit of guaranteed power supplier Chloride by increasing its £723m takeover bid. David Farr, Emerson’s chairman, is said to have spent last week ringing round investors to work out what he would need to pay to get their support for a [...]
Chinese wind power firm set for £810m Hong Kong float June 6, 2010 CHINESE wind power equipment supplier Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology said yesterday it planned to raise up to HK$9.1bn (£810m) in a Hong Kong initial public offering. Goldwind, which is already listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, said it was selling 395m shares with an indicative price range between HK$19.8 and HK$23 per share, confirming [...]
Message to Emerson: it is time to start bidding ‘em up June 6, 2010 EMERSON’S investment bankers should take a leaf out of the late Bruce Wasserstein’s playbook. Bid ‘em up Brucie, as the Wall Street legend was known, would tell his clients they needed to up their bid to bring home the bacon. With its current offer of 275p laughably low, Emerson would do well to heed such [...]
Sick days cost UK plc £16.8bn June 6, 2010 PUBLIC sector workers took 43 per cent more sick days than their private sector colleagues last year, according to research out today. Workers in the public sector take an average of 8.3 days off sick per year, compared with 5.8 days per private sector employee, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and [...]
Bidders circle Reliance stock June 6, 2010 INDIA’s Reliance Communications, burdened by debt and the cost of rolling out 3G services, said its board had agreed to sell up to 26 per cent of the firm, which could be worth nearly $2bn at current market levels. Reliance Comm, India’s second-biggest mobile carrier, did not disclose any timeframe for a possible deal in [...]