FSA could ban trading desks for up to a year April 26, 2010 Banks could see their trading desks banned for up to a year under tough new guidelines tabled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Proposals announced yesterday would also allow the watchdog to suspend an individual from trading for up to two years. The changes are part of a major clampdown by the FSA on financial [...]
Begbies: UK faces £55bn black hole April 26, 2010 A RISE in interest rates in the coming year could push thousands of small businesses into bankruptcy, insolvency expert Begbies Traynor warned this morning. In its first quarter “Red Flag” update, which monitors UK companies for signs of stress, Begbies said small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had £55bn of liabilities on their books. The debts [...]
Wal-Mart in case setback April 26, 2010 ASDA owner Wal-Mart suffered a blow yesterday when a US court ruled a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the retailer can proceed as a class-action case covering more than one million female employees. Wal-Mart , the world’s largest retailer, had asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to undo class-action certification in what could [...]
BoI will raise €3.4bn in May April 26, 2010 BANK of Ireland was tipped to emerge as a winner of the financial crisis yesterday after it announced a €3.4bn (£2.9bn) fundraising to avoid the need for more state aid. The Irish Republic’s largest lender said it would raise €1.9bn through a rights issue and €500m in a placing with institutional investors. The remaining €1bn [...]
Chloride rejects £723m bid April 26, 2010 Chloride Group yesterday rejected a new £723m cash offer from suitor Emerson Electric. It was urged by a string of major shareholders to hold out for a significantly higher bid from the US industrials group. Emerson gave the power protection firm only two days to respond to its 275p-a-share cash proposal over the weekend before [...]
Demand surges for City accountants April 26, 2010 SURGING demand for accountants has driven growth in member and student numbers for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which now has a global membership of 140,000. The 6.5 per cent annual growth in ACCA members came as student numbers increased from 366,000 to 404,000 – a rise of 10.4 per cent. ACCA chief executive [...]
Lansdowne doubles its Prudential short April 26, 2010 HEDGE fund Lansdowne Partners has doubled its short position in Prudential to 0.88 per cent or £121m, betting the insurer’s shares will fall. Analysts said there were several possible motives behind the move. Lansdowne could be counting on Prudential’s record $20bn (£13bn) rights issue going ahead successfully, in which case the share price would stabilise [...]
Losses almost wiped out at Regal April 26, 2010 Regal Petroleum, the Ukraine-focused oil and gas explorer, said yesterday it had wiped 86 per cent off its pre-tax loss after selling more gas to the domestic Ukrainian market. Regal posted a $6.83m (£4.42m) pre-tax loss for the year to December 2009, down from a $48.74m loss in 2008, on revenues 74 per cent higher [...]
New chair Mellon invests in RSH April 26, 2010 Former fund manager Jim Mellon has invested £0.1m in new shares in media and financial group Rivington Street Holdings, ahead of the group’s planned re-domicile to the Isle of Man. Mellon, who said his investment was a “signal of serious intent”, is to become non-executive chairman of the group, which includes PR firm Bishopsgate and [...]
OFT: BA made millions from price fixing April 26, 2010 BRITISH Airways (BA) made back hundreds of millions of pounds a year following a price-fixing scheme on its fuel surcharge, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday in court. Richard Latham, the OFT’s prosecutor, told a jury at Southwark Crown Court the airline colluded with rivals Virgin Atlantic to increase passenger fuel surcharges at [...]