Bigotgate overshadows fiscal crisis April 28, 2010 SO FAR during this election campaign, only two events, both televised, have had a real effect, capturing the public’s imagination. The first leaders’ debate triggered the vertiginous rise of Nick Clegg, whose LibDem party gained over ten percentage points in the polls in just 90 minutes without him needing to say anything new; and then [...]
Senate to debate reform April 28, 2010 DISCUSSIONS in the US Senate over landmark banking reform are set to begin today after the Republican and Democratic parties, which had been at odds over the proposed legislation, reached an agreement last night. The move came after Republican Senator Richard Shelby and Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, reached an agreement over [...]
Visa beats market forecasts April 28, 2010 Visa reported a 33 per cent increase in quarterly profit yesterday, beating Wall Street’s expectations, as consumer spending rebounded. The world’s largest credit and debit card network earned $713m (£469m), or 96 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter. That compares with net income of $536m, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. [...]
E.ON sells US unit for $6.7bn April 28, 2010 Germany’s E.ON, the world’s largest utility by sales, agreed to sell its Kentucky-based unit to US rival PPL for $6.7bn (£4.4bn) in cash yesterday, as the US utility refocuses on steadier, regulated operations. PPL will pick up Kentucky’s two largest utilities – Louisville Gas & Electric Co and Kentucky Utilities – in the deal. They [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 28, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN PRESSED FOR CDO LOSS SETTLEMENT Goldman Sachs is in talks over a potential settlement with an investor that claims that it lost money and went out of business after buying into a $1bn (€760,000) mortgage-backed security that was later privately criticised by a senior executive at the bank. Basis Yield Alpha Fund, [...]
Nasdaq OMX to shut Euro trading arm April 28, 2010 NASDAQ OMX will close its European multi-lateral trading platform, Neuro, next month after the exchange group cited weak prospects for the business due to a competitive market. The move comes just 18 months after Nasdaq launched the European arm and said that an additional problem with the system was that it wasn’t owned by a [...]
Bank of America appoints Holliday as new chairman April 28, 2010 BANK of America Merrill Lynch (BoA) appointed Charles Holliday as its new chairman yesterday after the bank’s annual general meeting. Holliday, who has served as a director since September last year, will take over from Walter Massey, who retired from the board after reaching the bank’s mandatory retirement age of 72. Prior to joining BoA, [...]
GARTMORE FUND MANAGER BACK AT WORK April 28, 2010 GUILLAUME Rambourg, the star Gartmore fund manager suspended last month, has been allowed to return to work, sending its shares up 15.5 per cent to 164p. He had been suspended for allegedly breaking the firm’s strict rules on “directing shares”. Rambourg will not return as a fund manager, he will take up a lesser role [...]
HP enters smartphone market after buying Palm for $1.2bn April 28, 2010 HEWLETT-PACKARD (HP) has struck a $1.2bn (£789m) deal to buy Palm, offering a 23 per cent premium to expand into the smartphone market. The news comes after rising speculation on who would buy Palm, which once dominated the market but recently has been overshadowed by Apple iPhone, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and phones that use [...]
UKFI votes for RBS bonuses April 28, 2010 THE governing body responsible for overseeing the taxpayer’s stake in Royal Bank of Scotland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the banks’s new remuneration structure. The bank agreed to toughen up its bonus criteria after it came in for fierce criticism for setting the bar too low for lucrative performance-related incentive packages to come into [...]