Services sector will see slow-paced turnaround December 21, 2009 BRITAIN’S business services sector has hit the bottom and is tipped to start its recovery around the turn of the year. However, the recovery will be dented by looming public spending cuts, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) warns today. With the public sector making up at least 15 per cent of total [...]
Number of serious US prime mortgage delinquencies surges 20pc in 12 weeks December 21, 2009 SERIOUS delinquencies among US prime mortgages rose nearly 20 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, as the percentage of current and performing mortgages fell for the sixth consecutive quarter, banking regulators said on Monday. The report by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, which are [...]
France to return Swiss HSBC private bank data December 21, 2009 FRANCE will return client data stolen by a former employee of a Geneva branch of HSBC to Switzerland, a French justice official said, in a bid to ease tensions that could undermine an accord to fight tax evasion. An official from the justice ministry in Paris said magistrates in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence would [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL YOU BE DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR? December 21, 2009 KRISTINE HEALY | CQC “I do hope it will snow this year, as I can’t remember ever having a white Christmas. It’s not looking very likely with the drizzle, but we can always hope. I did spend December one year in Australia, but it wasn’t the same – the best Christmas is always in England.” [...]
ECB member warns of addiction December 21, 2009 Banks should not become addicted to central bank money, European Central Bank executive board member Juergen Stark said yesterday. He also said the ECB would remove its non-traditional measures gradually and progressively, and warned that the longer the extraordinary support remains in place, the worse their side effects would become.
EU bypasses car repair rules December 21, 2009 European Union regulators yesterday proposed to continue letting carmakers set up exclusive repair networks and bypass antitrust rules for three more years due to limited competition in the sector. But the European Commission, the EU’s executive, said it planned to scrap antitrust exemptions for restricted car sales dealerships as there was already fierce competition in [...]
US media groups go bankrupt December 21, 2009 Three more media companies, including broadcaster Citadel Broadcasting, have filed for bankruptcy, brought low by the drop in advertising revenue and crushing debt loads. Citadel, the third-largest US radio broadcaster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Manhattan yesterday, hurt by $2.08bn (£1.29bn) in debt and a decline in advertising by auto, banking and restaurant [...]
GM goes for outsider as finance chief December 21, 2009 GENERAL Motors yesterday hired Chris Liddell, the chief financial officer of Microsoft , as its new finance chief, filling a key position with the carmaker’s highest-profile hire since its July bankruptcy. The hire brings another well known car industry outsider to GM’s shifting senior executive team at a time when it has been struggling to [...]
Nordic nations loan €300m to Iceland December 21, 2009 ICELAND’S central bank yesterday said it had received a loan tranche worth €300m(£267m) from Nordic countries, part of the country’s loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The bank said in an emailed statement that Iceland had actually been authorised to draw up to €444m by early January, but that €144m was to be [...]
Oppenheim bosses head for the exit December 21, 2009 TOP management at stricken wealth manager Sal Oppenheim were last night understood to be preparing to step down, sources, said putting new owner Deutsche Bank in the driver’s seat faster than expected. With regulators casting a critical eye on Sal Oppenheim’s losses and the bank’s loans to top executives, the bank’s four senior managers are [...]