TORIES WILL PROBE POWER OF BIG BANKS July 20, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland could be carved up under a Conservative government, shadow chancellor George Osborne signalled yesterday. Speaking as he set out his vision of the future of financial regulation, Osborne said the Tories would task the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission with probing whether consolidation [...]
FSA warns on banking bonuses July 20, 2009 BANKS that have offered their staff a guaranteed bonus for longer than a year could be hit with heavy penalties, the head of the Financial Services Authority has warned, as the embattled City watchdog launches a crackdown to prove it has the teeth to regulate big institutions. In a letter sent to over 40 chief [...]
GM examines final Opel bids July 20, 2009 GENERAL Motors, the ailing US carmaker, is mulling over three takeover offers for its European business and is in talks with the UK and German governments to nail down the final terms of a deal. The bids include one by a consortium of Canadian car parts firm Magna and Russian-controlled Sberbank, one by Belgian private [...]
Tories ahead, but more work still needed July 20, 2009 IN the main, yesterday’s Tory White Paper was a success. George Osborne is right to want to abolish the FSA and make the Bank of England responsible for financial stability. I’m delighted the Tories won’t be proposing a separation of investment and retail banks any time soon, and that any break-up of Lloyds or RBS [...]
Halliburton profits take hit July 20, 2009 US oilfield services giant Halliburton saw its second-quarter profit plunge 48 per cent yesterday as weak exploration and production activity, particularly in the US, hit its results. The group said net profit came in at $262m (£159m), down from the $504m the company made in the same period last year. Sales slipped 22 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 20, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA FUND TAKES DIAGEO STAKEChina’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired 1.1 per cent of the Diageo drinks group, giving it a stake worth £221m, in a sign of its emerging strategy to spread its investments over different global markets and asset classes. The move by China Investment, which manages $200bn of the country’s [...]
Deutsche Bank in spy probe July 20, 2009 Prosecutors in Frankfurt are examining whether to launch a criminal probe of possible breaches of data security at Deutsche Bank, officials said yesterday. The bank is involved in a probe into possible criminal wrongdoing after it hired detectives to carry out surveillance of a number of board members.
Google wins UK libel case July 20, 2009 The High Court ruled yesterday that Google is not liable for defamatory comments that appear in its search results. In a landmark ruling Mr Justice Eady said its search engine was not responsible for comments relating to Metropolitan International Schools, a distance learning business. The court said Google was a “facilitator” and not a publisher [...]
Legg Mason swings to profit July 20, 2009 US asset manager Legg Mason beat market expectations yesterday with its first profit in six quarters, bolstered by cost savings and rising equity markets. Net profit in its first three months to June 30 rose to $50.1m (£30.2m), from a loss of $36.1m a year earlier.
Friends slams Cowdery’s bid after meeting July 20, 2009 INSURER Friends Provident yesterday lashed out at Resolution, the buyout vehicle led by Clive Cowdery, saying its efforts to take over the firm are “totally inappropriate”. The statement came after Friends’ chairman Sir Adrian Montague came face-to-face with Cowdery for the first time since the takeover plans were launched, at a meeting at the offices [...]