WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 21, 2009 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph TEST FOR DEFENCE SPENDING PLEDGE The government’s pledge to direct £900m of defence spending into better equipment for Afghanistan will be tested next month when it announces the replacement for the controversial Snatch Land Rover. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is understood to be choosing between four vehicles, and industry experts say the [...]
SOLVENCY II FEARS December 21, 2009 Amid fears that new European regulation will lead to an exodus of UK insurers, the Association of British Insurers has pledged to ensure that the European Union’s Solvency II directive is “acceptable to UK insurers so they can continue to be competitive”. An ABI spokesman said the directive was the “subject of ongoing discussions and [...]
Rusal IPO ignores retail investors December 21, 2009 The Hong Kong regulator has imposed unusual restrictions on private investor participation in the $2bn (£1.2bn) flotation of UC Rusal on the Hong Kong stock market, the first IPO by a Russian company in the city. The Securities and Futures Commission has insisted on a minimum entry level of HK$1m for those wishing to take [...]
Borders to close all 45 UK shops December 21, 2009 The Borders bookshop chain will close all its UK branches tomorrow after administrators failed to find a white knight to produce a rescue package. Borders, which struggled in the face of rising competition from online retailers and supermarkets, will make 1,150 people from 45 outlets redundant. MCR, which is unwinding the business, said: “The joint [...]
Sports Direct reported to FSA December 21, 2009 Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct is understood to have been reported to the Financial Services Authority for allegedly breaking the regulator’s rules in its attempt to buy rival Blacks Leisure. The sports billionaire, who also owns the Premier League’s Newcastle United Football Club, already faces separate investigations by the Office of Fair Trading and the Serious [...]
ATM Christmas is on the cards December 21, 2009 Wednesday 23 December will be the busiest day on record for cash purchases, according to research, suggesting consumers are shunning credit cards for banknotes. Figures compiled by Tesco Bank indicate cash machine withdrawals so far in December have outstripped 2008’s numbers. The trend is expected to peak on Wednesday, when ATMs are predicted to handle [...]
LSE seals deal to buy stake in Turquoise December 21, 2009 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has finally struck a deal to acquire Turquoise, a rival share trading platform that was launched just over a year ago to take on the LSE. The London bourse will announce at 7am that it is taking a 60 per cent stake in the lossmaking platform and investing some £20m [...]
Spyker Cars tables renewed offer for GM’s Saab marque December 21, 2009 Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars yesterday submitted a new offer to fast-track a buyout of Saab from General Motors, two days after last-ditch talks to rescue the Swedish manufacturer collapsed. GM said on Friday it would start shutting down the loss-making firm after talks with Spyker ended. The move to abandon the 60-year-old Swedish auto [...]
Christmas party spending cut as companies play Scrooge December 21, 2009 Businesses are spending nearly a third less on Christmas parties this year than they did in 2008, according to research due to be published today. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimates that employers will spend about £600m on Christmas parties for their staff this year, down from close to £1bn in 2007 [...]
CHUNNEL CRIPPLED BY COLD December 20, 2009 EUROSTAR services are today suspended again after this weekend’s travel chaos on the cross-channel route. Winter weather wreaked havoc on the line on Saturday, with condensation blamed for electrical faults. Chief executive Richard Brown, facing calls to resign, said the company had not been adequately prepared for such cold weather.