Former Pru boss tucker joins AIA July 18, 2010 AIA WILL today announce the shock appointment of the former head of FTSE-100-listed Prudential as its new chief executive. Mark Tucker will take the reigns at the firm just weeks after Prudential’s $35.5bn (£23bn) AIA takeover bid humiliatingly collapsed. He will now be responsible for overseeing the firm’s momentous listing, resurrected last week, which could [...]
Boeing sells 30 jets to Emirates July 18, 2010 EMIRATES will order 30 new Boeing 777 aircraft in a deal worth more than $7bn (£4.6bn). The contract will be unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, which starts today. It follows a period of rapid expansion for the Dubai-based airline, which last month ordered 32 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets, worth around $115bn. The deal will [...]
City row over director deals July 18, 2010 A TOP City figure has spoken out against a decision by the Financial Services Authority to prevent stockbrokers from notifying clients that they are passing on shares being sold by a company director. Directors’ share sales can have a material impact on market sentiment towards their company. Many brokers thus traditionally gave investors a heads [...]
Sweden’s failed Tobin tax experiment July 18, 2010 BAD ideas have a habit of never really going away. There were renewed calls at the weekend for a Tobin tax on financial transactions, a deeply flawed concept which remains popular in influential circles. Supporters should acquaint themselves with an excellent study published in the mid-1990s by the Canadian government’s depository services programme, which remains [...]
BP cap stops oil spilling July 18, 2010 BP said yesterday its new cap has stopped the oil that has gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for three months and hopes to keep it that way until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. The British energy giant expressed confidence its blown-out Macondo well is intact below the seabed and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MANDARINS TO BE OFFERED EARLY REDUNDANCY PAYOUTS Thousands of senior civil servants are being offered voluntary redundancy ahead of big cuts in their severance terms, sparking fears that some of Whitehall’s most talented officials could walk before the terms are reduced. The offers are less to do with the coalition’s plans to tackle [...]
Motorola close to Nokia deal July 18, 2010 Motorola is close to selling most of its wireless-network equipment business to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for $1.2bn (£780m). NSN, a joint venture of Finland’s Nokia and Germany’s Siemens, would buy Motorola’s network unit under the deal, which could be announced as early as today. Motorola plans to keep its iDen technology, which works for [...]
Companies: forget re-elections July 18, 2010 Companies are being urged to ignore guidelines that require them to annually re-elect board members. Three of the UK’s biggest investors – Hermes, Railpen and the Universities Superannuation Scheme – have written to 700 companies urging them not to comply. In the letter, they warn that annual election of directors can undermine collective decision making [...]
New HQ plans under threat at JP Morgan July 18, 2010 CANARY Wharf is in danger of being left with a yawning gap in its skyline in the years to come if JP Morgan decides to pull its plans to move into new headquarters under construction on the banks of the Thames. The future of the Riverside South building was cast into doubt again at the [...]
Fabulous Fabrice Tourre set for a fight to clear his name July 18, 2010 FABRICE Tourre, the man named in the SEC allegations of fraud against Goldman Sachs, is today expected to file a defence document in court insisting that he will continue to fight to clear his name. Tourre’s decision comes in spite of Goldman’s move last week to reach a settlement with the regulator, under which it [...]