Pru deal held on knife edge May 13, 2010 ONE of Prudential’s most vocal supporters has urged the insurer to be honest about recent regulatory problems when it publishes the prospectus for its mammoth rights issue. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam and chairman Harvey McGrath have effectively staked their careers on pushing through the $21bn (£14bn) cash call and $35.5bn acquisition of AIA in Asia. [...]
Cameron right to cut ministers’ pay May 13, 2010 IT was good to see David Cameron announcing a 5 per cent pay cut for all government ministers. The savings will be relatively trivial when compared with the £163bn budget deficit but that wasn’t really the point: any organisation that wishes to usher in a new culture where belt-tightening is the norm must be ruthless [...]
BP: we weren’t prepared May 13, 2010 TONY Hayward, BP’s embattled chief executive, admitted yesterday that the oil giant could have been more prepared for a deepwater leak and that as a result his job could be on the line. After two days of grilling from US Senate representatives, Hayward said that with hindsight, BP could have done more in the past [...]
Govt to raise stake in Allied Irish Banks May 13, 2010 ALLIED Irish Banks confirmed yesterday that the government’s stake in the bank has reached 18.6 per cent and that its core Irish business continues to face challenges from weak consumer demand and higher costs of funding. As had been expected, the bank said it is making an annual coupon payment on €3.5bn (£3bn) in government [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TENSIONS LIE AHEAD FOR TREASURY Early this year, a top Treasury official sipped coffee in the departmental canteen and mused about the process of deficit reduction. It would be a long grind, he said, requiring hard work and persistence. Most important, he predicted, would be the task of “keeping a coalition in favour [...]
Crossrail hails decision to finish the link May 13, 2010 CROSSRAIL hailed the decision by new Lib-Con transport secretary Philip Hammond not to scrap the £16bn east-west rail link across the capital yesterday. Terry Morgan, chairman of Crossrail, said: “This is welcome news. To get such early and firm support from the government means the project can go forward with confidence.” Morgan added: “This construction [...]
Obama’s bank reformer says UK should copy US bank rules May 13, 2010 PAUL Volcker, the 82-year-old adviser to Barack Obama on financial regulation, held a meeting yesterday at the Bank of England at which he is believed to have advised the governor of the need to rein in UK banks in the name of reducing risk in the financial system. Minutes before dashing to a meeting with [...]
Osborne set to vote against tough EU hedge fund legislation May 13, 2010 BRITAIN’S new coalition government faces its first brush with the European Union next week as the bloc’s finance ministers are on course to back tough new rules on hedge funds against UK wishes. EU ambassadors have reached a deal on draft measures to force managers of hedge funds and private equity groups to undergo direct [...]
Ministers get 5pc cut in pay May 13, 2010 MINISTERS agreed to take a five per cent pay cut at their first cabinet meeting yesterday, suggesting the public sector is in for a round of tough pay settlements. David Cameron told his ministers, who will not receive a pay rise for the duration of the parliament, that he wanted them to lead by example [...]
Give the new government a chance, says our panel May 13, 2010 THE new government deserves the benefit of the doubt but won’t last a full five years, according to our panel of London’s business professionals and financiers. We asked the City A.M. / PoliticsHome.com panel to say how confident they were in the Liberal Conservative coalition, and to estimate how long the government would last. The vast [...]