Food boss defects to rival October 25, 2009 Philip Jansen, head of the European division of French catering giant Sodexo, is to join rival food firm Brakes as CEO.
RBS seeking to restrict its APS exposure October 25, 2009 Royal Bank of Scotland is working on plans to slash the value of toxic assets it dumps in the government’s asset protection scheme (APS) by up to £60bn. The nationalised bank declined to comment on growing speculation over the weekend that it will reduce its exposure to the APS. Rival Lloyds Banking Group is preparing [...]
Hedge fund guru George Soros claims bonus anger is justified October 25, 2009 BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros at the weekend became the latest high-profile financier to wade into the bonus debate as he claimed the backlash against banking fat cats on lucrative pay deals is justified. Speaking in an interview about large profits reported in recent weeks by Wall Street’s biggest banks, Soros said: “Those earnings are not [...]
Crack down on credit cards October 25, 2009 The government will tomorrow outline a crack down on credit card operators in a bid to give customers a better deal. Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday said he wants to make “reform of the financial sector a reality” and force the credit card industry to clean up its act. Credit card debt in Britain has [...]
Galleon probe extends reach October 25, 2009 PROSECUTORS investigating UShedge fund Galleon have issued a subpoena to a former employee of SAC Capital Advisors, broadening the insider-trading enquiry. The subpoena was sent to Richard Grodin, who worked for Stephen Cohen’s SAC Capital, but neither he nor Cohen is accused of any wrong-doing. It is the first indication that the net is widening [...]
Bank of Ireland will not tap shareholders again in 2009 October 25, 2009 BANK of Ireland is unlikely to tap shareholders for cash to shore up its finances this year due partly to problems in setting up Ireland’s new “bad bank”, it emerged yesterday. Delays in passing laws to create the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) mean Bank of Ireland is not expected to launch a rights issue [...]
Number of US banking failures surges through the 100 mark October 25, 2009 THE number of US banks going bust has passed 100 this year, the highest rate of failure in 17 years. The subprime crisis continues to wreak havoc, with US regulators shutting seven more banks over the weekend. Three banks in Florida alone were wound up bringing the total of failed lenders to 106 in 2009, [...]
UNDER THE HAMMER October 25, 2009 PREMIER League club West Ham is thought to have been put up for sale by its Icelandic owners CB Holdings. Rothschild and Standard Bank have been hired to find a new backer. Former Birmingham owner David Sullivan and a consortium headed by Wall Street executive Jim Bowe are interested.
Matalan explores a sale to private equity firms October 25, 2009 DISCOUNT clothing and homeware retailer Matalan is being circled by several private equity firms interested in taking it over, it was confirmed by the company this weekend. The retailer has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to advise it after receiving a string of unsolicited approaches by firms, including CVC Capital Partners. Matalan has been given a likely [...]
Oil prices fall to cut profits at UK majors October 25, 2009 Lower oil and gas prices and poor refining performance are set to hit third quarter profits at oil and gas majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group this week. Falls in oil prices to about $80 (£49) a barrel last week, from an all-time high of $147 a barrel in July in 2008, are [...]