Australian miner buys rival May 3, 2010 Australia’s largest gold miner, Newcrest Mining, agreed a A$9.5bn (£5.8bn) takeover of its nearest locally listed rival, Lihir Gold, today with an improved offer of A$4.03 per share. Lihir shareholders are to receive one Newcrest share for every 8.43 shares they own.
Miners say they will flee Aussie tax May 3, 2010 THE world’s top miners have said they will scale down their operations in Australia if the Government goes ahead with plans to slap a 40 per cent tax on mining profits. According to mining chiefs at BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, the plans by the Australian government will hamper long-term investment in the country, [...]
Goldman Sachs hit by slew of lawsuits May 3, 2010 Goldman Sachs yesterday made the surprise move of disclosing information about the flood of lawsuits facing it. A deluge of cases accusing the Wall Street bank of mismanagement and dishonesty were filed in the days following the decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to bring charges against it. Shareholders blame the bank for [...]
Greenhill bosses to sell 3m shares May 3, 2010 BOUTIQUE investment bank Greenhill said some of its officials would sell 3m common shares to its underwriter Goldman Sachs. Greenhill said it would not get any proceeds from the share sale. The selling stock holders are certain managing directors and senior advisers of Greenhill, the company said. Last month, the bank reported first-quarter profit way [...]
Basel rules will hit world growth May 3, 2010 TOUGH new rules forcing banks to set aside funds to combat future financial crises could slash world economic growth by as much as one per cent a year. Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Regulation Nout Wellink told the Financial Times that regulators are determined to push through the legislation despite repeated warnings from [...]
Obama puts boot into BP May 3, 2010 A WHITE House spokesman yesterday promised to keep a “boot on the throat” of oil giant BP as chief executive Tony Hayward met with Washington officials to discuss ways to stop a worsening oil leak from spreading further. The British energy giant said it will foot the bill for the clean up of the oil [...]
Cost of spill could be huge May 3, 2010 IT IS virtually impossible to say how much the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will cost BP in hard cash, but the damage to its reputation could be far greater. Analysts put the final clean-up cost somewhere between $2bn and $8bn, meaning it could dwarf the $3.8bn that Exxon eventually paid to clear up [...]
TIME LINE | WORLD’S MAJOR OIL SPILLS May 3, 2010 ● Argo Merchant, December 1976 The vessel carrying 7.7m gallons of Number 6 oil ran aground off the coast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts and dumped its entire cargo into the sea when it broke apart. ● Ixtoc I, June 1979 The exploratory oil rig off the Bay of Campech in Mexico suffered from a blowout [...]
Markets still doubt Greece May 3, 2010 A RECORD €110bn (£95.2bn) bailout deal for debt-stricken Greece met with widespread wariness on European markets yesterday. European investors yesterday vocied concerns that Greece’s resolve to implement austerity measures would crumble under political pressure and an inability to match fiscal tightening with complementary monetary policy alterations. “Germany is pulling away from the peripheral [eurozone countries] [...]
ECB gets behind rescue plan by suspending credit rules May 3, 2010 EUROPE’S central bank yesterday threw its support behind debt-stricken Greece, bolstering the record €110bn (£95.1bn) bailout deal offered to the country by moving to underpin liquidity in the government’s bonds. The ECB said it would suspend the minimum credit rating required for Greek assets to be used as collateral for loans until further notice, giving [...]