BILL OF THE WEEK April 5, 2010 A GASTRONOMIC feast last Thursday for these four financiers, celebrating with a slap-up pre-Easter lunch at Racine on the Brompton Road. Our diners began with oysters and seabass roe on mini toasts, before moving on to luxurious foie gras with a half bottle of Chateau d’Yquem 2002. They then ordered helpings of cote de boeuf [...]
Deripaska could return to Norilsk April 5, 2010 A billionaire shareholder in Russian aluminium giant Rusal is set to return to the board of Norilsk Nickel, in the latest sign of a possible merger. Oleg Deripaska has been included on a list of candidates for the board, which the company shareholders are due to approve at its general meeting in June, Norilsk said [...]
Gartmore hires former FSA lawyer April 5, 2010 CLIFFORD Chance partner Carlos Conceicao has been appointed by troubled Gartmore to help the fund manager investigate movements made by one of its star players, Guillaume Rambourg. Conceicao, who formerly headed up the Financial Service Authority’s (FSA’s) wholesale enforcement division, has been handed the task of sifting through thousands of pages of documents, which could [...]
Tesco reveals banking target April 5, 2010 TESCO announced over the weekednd its ambitions to create a full service retail bank as part of plans to make up 10 per cent of the UK’s financial services market within the next ten years. The supermarket’s credit card and motor insurance businesses already makes up 10 and 4 per cent of their respective markets [...]
US government reaps $10bn so far from proceeds of financial bailouts April 5, 2010 THE US government has earned more than $10bn (£6.5bn) so far from repayments of bail out funds to financial firms, according to a report by SNL Financial. The figure – which equates to an annualised return of 8.5 per cent – underscores efforts by the industry to speed up repayments and warrant repurchases. Firms such [...]
Och-Ziff increases assets by $700m during March April 5, 2010 OCH-Ziff Capital Management increased its assets under management by $700m (£458m) in March, according to a regulatory filing. In a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York-based hedge fund said assets under management stood at roughly $25.3bn on 1 April, with its large increase due to investment gains and new money from [...]
OUT OF RETIREMENT April 5, 2010 GORDON Pell, Sir Fred Goodwin’s former right hand man, has landed a part-time job as deputy chairman of the Queen’s bank Coutts, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. Pell, who stepped down as deputy chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland earlier this month, will earn between £30,000 and £40,000 for the role in addition [...]
Lehman objects to US plan April 5, 2010 The administrators of Lehman Brothers’ UK unit are objecting to a plan by the collapsed US investment bank to create an asset manager that would continue to oversee its illiquid assets post-bankruptcy. In a formal objection to Lehman’s plans on Monday, the UK administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) said it was “premature” for Lehman [...]
Japan hits out at Chinese trains April 5, 2010 Japan has entered a bitter war of words with its old enemy China over its world famous bullet train. The chairman of Central Japan Railway launched a scathing attack on the Chinese, accusing them of “stealing” Japan’s technology and compromising the safety of its passengers. Japan is competing with China’s railways for overseas business. He [...]
Ladbrokes boss keeps rival stake April 5, 2010 Incoming Ladbrokes chief executive will be allowed to keep his holding in spread-betting firm Sporting Index despite the potential conflict of interest. Glynn holds 438,226 preference shares and 59,125 ordinary shares in Sporting Index, valuing his stake at around £4m. Ladbrokes has already bought Glynn out of several other holdings. He will make £12m if [...]