Top UK banker at Morgan Stanley quits January 7, 2010 ONE of Morgan Stanley’s top London bankers has quit the firm just days after new chief executive James Gorman took over at the US bank. London-based John Hyman, co-head of global capital markets, left the firm two weeks ago for personal reasons, and his departure was revealed in an internal conference call on Monday. It [...]
WII SALES ROCKET January 7, 2010 STRONG Christmas sales for Nintendo’s Wii games console, revealed yesterday, helped allay fears that the popularity of the gadget has waned. Nintendo’s US Wii sales exceeded 3m units in December up sharply from 2.12m units a year earlier. Meanwhile, total sales of Nintendo’s handheld game player, the DS, have reached 40m units in Europe, making [...]
THE COUP THAT MELTED FASTER THAN THE SNOW January 6, 2010 TWO former cabinet ministers yesterday called for a secret ballot to decide whether Gordon Brown should lead the Labour party into the general election, although the plot against the Prime Minister soon fizzled out. Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt and ex-defence secretary Geoff Hoon wrote to all Labour MPs urging them to back a secret [...]
Labour can’t even organise a proper plot January 6, 2010 HOW incompetent can you be? If the Labour Party had any sense, it would remove Gordon Brown as soon as possible; all the polls show that Labour would gain at least some ground with any half-decent alternative leader. A change at this late stage is what the Tories dread the most. Instead, we had the [...]
Commuters face delays as bad weather drags on January 6, 2010 COMMUTERS in London were bracing themselves for more travel disruption today as Britain remained in the grip of the deep freeze. Some of the worst weather in years has hit trains, flights and roads and forced thousands of schools to close, with many said likely to remain shut today. Train operators voiced hopes that services [...]
Fed cautious over housing January 6, 2010 SOME Federal Reserve officials worried last month that waning government support could snuff out a fragile housing market recovery and a few believed it might be desirable to step up asset purchases. Labour market weakness remained an important concern for Fed officials, the minutes released last night showed, with officials saying they expect unemployment to [...]
BA and Unite in new talks January 6, 2010 BRITISH Airways will hold talks with union leaders representing cabin crew this week, in a bid to avoid potentially crippling industrial action. Unite is already balloting its members for a second strike after a planned 12-day action over the Christmas period was ruled illegal by a High Court judge. Discussions will revolve around planned changes [...]
Goldman set to sell out as SMFG taps markets for £6bn January 6, 2010 GOLDMAN SACHS agreed yesterday to convert 100 billion yen worth of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) preferred shares into common stock, as part of the Japanese bank’s preparation for tougher capital requirements. The agreement, which comes as part of Japan’s third largest bank’s plans to raise up to 888.9bn (£6bn) yen through a public offering [...]
MPs blast ministers over deficit cut plan January 6, 2010 THE government yesterday faced attacks over the lack of detail in its plans to cut Britain’s ballooning budget deficit. MPs on the influential Treasury Select Committee said ministers had failed to spell out in December’s PreBudget Report where the axe would fall in future departmental budgets. Labour has pledged to halve the deficit in the [...]
Pearl’s creditors set to reject deal on suspended payments January 6, 2010 PEARL Group’s bondholders plan to reject a deal that the insurer hoped would end a bitter dispute over suspended interest repayments. The firm, founded by pizza entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, suspended interest payments on £500m of its bonds last year, sparking outrage from bondholders. Pearl has tabled a deal offering to buy back £100m of the [...]