EU extends ABN Amro probe February 8, 2010 EUROPEAN regulators yesterday extended an in-depth investigation into state aid granted to nationalised Dutch banks ABN Amro and Fortis Bank Nederland and temporarily approved a €6.9bn (£6bn) recapitalisation to finance their merger. The European Commission, competition watchdog of the 27-country European Union, said it would assess the combined effect of all the aid and the [...]
FSA says EU hedge fund rules carry significant risk February 8, 2010 EU plans for regulating the hedge fund industry still carry “significant risks”, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned yesterday, even though many of the stricter rules have been toned down. “I would not underestimate the significant risks that still exist in this draft directive. It could still go badly wrong in some important areas,” Dan [...]
New board chiefs at Plus Markets February 8, 2010 PLUS Markets has beefed up its management with the appointment of two new executives. Cyril Theret replaces Simon Brickles as chief executive, who becomes vice chairman, and Giles Vardey takes over from Stephen Hazell-Smith as non-executive chairman. The move comes as the retail-focused stock exchange looks to offer more products and move into international capital [...]
European airlines scramble to maintain passenger numbers amid poor weather February 8, 2010 IRISH airline Aer Lingus rode out a sharp drop in its long-haul passenger business to post a small increase in overall passenger numbers in January. Aer Lingus had 57,000 long haul passengers over the month, a 23 per cent fall from 2009. However, an increase in short haul figures, which make up the bulk of [...]
Polo Ralph Lauren’s Duffy jumps on board at Celtic February 8, 2010 LIFE-LONG Celtic fan Brian Duffy has joined the board of the Scottish Premier League club as an independent non-executive director. London-based Duffy is group president, Europe, of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation. He joined Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation in 2003 as president and chief operating officer, Europe, from the Sara Lee Corporation where he held [...]
Merger talks end for Kirin and Suntory February 8, 2010 Japanese brewers Kirin Holdings and Suntory yesterday dropped plans to create a combined food and drinks group with $43bn (£28bn) in annual sales after disagreeing over levels of control in a merged firm. The two brewers began talks eight months ago with the aim of building the scale needed to keep pace with global consolidation [...]
An investment gap is hindering UK start-ups February 8, 2010 A thriving technology sector is a key driver for success against the background of a weak economic recovery and an ongoing debate about the relative values of the service economy and declining manufacturing base of the UK economy. The UK has no shortage of profitable technology companies. But for every Autonomy and Monitise there is [...]
French official sees deal on A400 soon February 8, 2010 A keenly awaited deal on the future of the troubled A400M military transport plane, affecting up to 10,000 European jobs, could be reached this week or next, France’s top arms procurement official said yesterday. “We hope to have an agreement as quickly as possible; that could be this week or next,” Laurent Collet-Billon, head of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 8, 2010 MAN GROUP Numis lowers its target price from 355p to 300p. The broker blames Man’s poor performance on its flagship fund. However, it predicts a long term turnaround for the group based on past form and £1.6bn surplus capital. Many of the risks are now factored into the share price, and it upgrades its recommendation [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 8, 2010 Piper Jaffray The mid-market investment banking firm has appointed Nimish Shah as a principal in its US equity sales team. Shah joins after eight years in Cantor Fitzgerald’s US equity sales team, working for FTSE 100 companies including insurer Legal & General and oil giant Shell. He has also previously spent time at the likes [...]