CITY ROCKED AS GARTMORE STAR PROBED March 30, 2010 Fund manager Gartmore saw its stock tumble by almost a third yesterday after its star manager Guillaume Rambourg was suspended. A statement disclosing the suspension came at the close of a week of intense City speculation the firm could be involved in the massive insider trading investigation being carried out by the Financial Services Authority [...]
Wave of strikes set to cause transport chaos March 30, 2010 BRITONS are facing a spring of strikes with a raft of airline, rail and tube walkouts hitting travellers. Major disruptions are likely as British Airways (BA), Network Rail and London Underground staff threaten to launch further walkouts. The news comes as Network Rail has taken legal action against rail union RMT over threats of a [...]
CBI criticises City excesses March 30, 2010 BANKS and other businesses need to look in the mirror and realise how their actions might be viewed by the general public, Britain’s largest employers’ group said yesterday. Richard Lambert of the CBI warned the obsession with creating short-term shareholder value through unnecessary mergers, high-risk trading activities and excessive executive remuneration had eroded taxpayers’ trust [...]
Red tape will hit property investors March 30, 2010 HERE is another reason to be downbeat about the housing market. Buy-to-let investors are being hit by yet more red tape from 6 April; with many already licking their wounds from the slide in house prices, landlords may eventually come to the conclusion that it just isn’t worth the hassle any more to invest in [...]
Blair: Tories are vacuous March 30, 2010 FORMER Prime Minister Tony Blair lit up the pre-election battle yesterday, trumpeting Gordon Brown’s experience and launching a harsh attack on “vacuous” Tory promises of change. Speaking at the Trimdon Labour Club where he announced his resignation three years ago, Blair said Brown had supplied the leadership desperately needed by Britain during the financial crisis. [...]
Debt fears hit Greek bonds March 30, 2010 Greek sovereign bonds suffered a sharp sell-off yesterday as investor concerns over the country’s financial health flared up again. The price of seven-year bonds issued on Monday dropped as a new issue of 12-year paper struggled to find buyers. Investors remain worried that Germany might refuse to give financial aid if Greece fails to meet [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 30, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES M&A SURGE IN ASIA WHILE THE US AND EUROPE SUFFER Mergers and acquisitions boomed in Asia in the first quarter in sharp contrast to a slump in deal volume in Europea and the US, underlining a global shift in activity in the wake of the credit crisis. The value of global M&A overall [...]
Tories and Labour drop a point March 30, 2010 Last night’s YouGov poll put the Conservatives down one point on 38 per cent, Labour down one point on 31 per cent and the Lib Dems up a point on 19 per cent. The increased Tory lead after the Budget remains unchanged, with David Cameron’s sanguine approach to Tony Blair’s assault on the Tories appearing well [...]
Irish banks face shortfall of up to €22bn March 30, 2010 IRELAND hit its banks with a hefty penalty to take loans off their hands and said they needed at least €22bn (£19.6m) in extra funds to recover from a property collapse that was worse than feared. Last night revealed the discount on property loans Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is taking from stricken banks [...]
EMI in talks over $300m injection March 30, 2010 TROUBLED record company EMI is in talks with America’s Universal Music and Sony over a licensing deal that could raise up to $300m (£200m) to help pay down its debts. An agreement with one of the labels would yield an upfront fee in return for a five-year contract that would give the winning bidder the [...]