FRESH LEASE OF LIFE FOR EX-LLOYDS BANKING LAIR September 1, 2009 HIP hip, hooray; there’s a new flash drinking hole in town. Actually, they don’t come much flasher than the new Green’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, which is situated in the grand confines of the old Lloyds banking hall on Cornhill. Simon Parker Bowles, one-time brother-in-law to Camilla and the owner of the original Green’s of [...]
EBAY HANGS UP ON SKYPE IN $2BN DEAL September 1, 2009 INTERNETauction giant eBay yesterday agreed to sell a majority stake in Skype, its free internet telephone business, to a group of private investors for $2bn (£1.23bn). The consortium, which is being led by USprivate equity firm Silver Lake, includes Andreessen Horowitz – a firm run by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen – and London-based private [...]
Insurers facing huge fundraising September 1, 2009 INSURERS are worried that they will be forced to raise more than £50bn in fresh equity should new European rules on capital and reserve requirements come into force in 2012 as planned. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) wrote to chancellor Alistair Darling last month urging him to intervene over the proposals laid out in [...]
QE boosts UK money supply September 1, 2009 QUANTITATIVE EASING is finally starting to boost Britain’s money supply, according to July data from the Bank of England yesterday. The Bank’s preferred measure of broad money supply – M4 excluding money holdings of intermediate other financial corporations – rose by 0.6 per cent in July. Even more encouraging was the three-month annual growth rate, [...]
Anti-bonus witch-hunt has gone too far September 1, 2009 NONSENSEon stilts: that is the only way to describe the anti-bonus hysteria gripping governments worldwide. Gordon Brown weighed in to the cacophony again yesterday, though he has fortunately not gone as far as the French, who want to impose quantitative limits on payouts. The prime minister did float the possibility of limiting the share of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 1, 2009 FANANCIAL TIMES NATIONAL EXPRESS BID RETHINKThe Cosmen-CVC Capital Partners team bidding for National Express is looking for ways to make its offer more attractive after the rejection of a conditional all-cash 450p takeover proposal. Stagecoach, a rival transport group that had been in exclusive discussions with the Cosmen-led consortium about buying some of the assets [...]
IMF ups growth forecast September 1, 2009 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased its predicted rate for next year’s global economic expansion to slightly less than three per cent.In July the IMF predicted the global economy would grow by 2.5 per cent in 2010, but has now improved its forecast. “The recovery is for real but it is very heavily policy [...]
FSA warns on spoofing September 1, 2009 The Financial Services Authority said yesterday that it will fine or suspend market operators involved in manipulation practices known as “spoofing” and “layering”. Spoofing and layering involve putting apparent trades on share order books to create a misleading impression of the stock price or liquidity. The warning follows a £35,000 fine imposed last year by [...]
M&S ups ante in search for boss September 1, 2009 Marks and Spencer is close to appointing a headhunter to find a replacement for chief executive Sir Stuart Rose. Jan Hall, who has worked for M&S in the past, is expected to be a leading candidate. The search will be tough because Rose is expected to stay on as chairman after the new chief executive [...]
Tea prices brewing a record September 1, 2009 Tea prices are set to climb 10-15 per cent higher next year because crop failures have depleted global supply. Consumers’ thirst for tea has not dwindled with the global recession.