At a glance: EU finance summit July 13, 2010 The meeting is focused on the creation of a EU-wide supervisory system covering banks, insurers and securities markets, and is intended to avoid a repeat of the worldwide financial crisis prompted by Lehman’s collapse in 2008. Both EU member states and the EU parliament need to approve the final legislation. If agreed at the current [...]
Citi sells $1.1bn of assets July 13, 2010 CITIGROUP said yesterday it has agreed to sell its private equity unit to StepStone Group and Lexington Partners, in a deal that will reduce the bank’s assets by about $1.1bn (£725m). America’s third-largest bank has not disclosed the terms of the deal, but reports last week suggested the unit would be sold for $900m, a [...]
BT trustees in court over deficit July 13, 2010 BT pension trustees have asked the High Court to determine how much of the firm’s final salary pension fund is guaranteed by the state. The taxpayer could be liable for between £7.3bn and £22.8bn if the company went bankrupt, court papers said yesterday. The case aims to clarify whether employees who joined the scheme after [...]
BarCap equities chief resigns July 13, 2010 Barclays Capital’s head of EMEA equities Dixit Joshi has resigned from the bank. He will take up an equivalent role at Deutsche Bank in October, according to reports last night. Joshi oversaw a massive expansion of BarCap’s European and Asian businesses as BarCap sought to become a full-service investment bank, and hired close to 1,000 [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BANK TEAMS RUSH TO SET UP NEW FUNDS The hedge fund industry is seeing a rush of start-ups amid a series of high-profile spin-outs from the in-house trading teams at investment banks. In spite of one of the worst second-quarter performances for the industry on record, the new funds also are attracting strong [...]
Bullish Ocado defies calls to cut IPO?price July 13, 2010 ONLINE grocer Ocado dismissed more calls to cut the price of its planned flotation yesterday, saying analysts had misunderstood the fundamentals of the business. Several analysts claimed yesterday the Waitrose grocery distributor is worth much less than its intended £1bn valuation, and urged the firm to lower its sights. Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said [...]
NYSE Euronext launches stock exchange in London July 13, 2010 AMERICAN exchange operator NYSE Euronext has launched a UK-based rival to the London Stock Exchange. The firm aims to attract international investors to its NYSE Euronext London platform, which it said “provides a unique market attractive to international issuers, financial intermediaries and investors”. Foreign issuers will benefit from a “much broader, more diverse and more [...]
Nervy markets make it tough for Fairfield July 13, 2010 ADVISERS to the oil and gas company Fairfield Energy were adamant last night they would not be extending the deadline for investors to subscribe to the group’s £330m share listing despite suggestions that the deal was running into trouble. Fairfield is on the last day of its investor roadshow and indications are that the advisers, [...]
Bankers unite in bid to shift tainted image July 13, 2010 BRITAIN’S most senior bankers yesterday launched an impassioned plea to colleagues to unite in banging the drum for the industry, arguing that accepting past failings goes hand in hand with standing up for their vital role in the economy. Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester challenged delegates at the British Bankers’ Association annual [...]
Budd insists that OBR is independent July 13, 2010 THE head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was yesterday forced to deny there was a conspiracy to revise down how many jobs would be lost through George Osborne’s budget. Sir Alan Budd received a grilling from the Treasury select committee yesterday over accusations his Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) came under government pressure [...]