NEWS | IN BRIEF December 16, 2009 Petrofac boosted by order rush Oil services group Petrofac yesterday said a rush of contract wins would boost its full-year profits by 25 per cent from last year. The group said it had had a surge of orders for work worth $6bn (£3.7bn) over the year. Petrofac, which designs and makes oil and gas infrastructure, [...]
The top spots to see in the new decade December 16, 2009 BLACK AND WHITE BALL AT BEACH BLANKET BABYLON Think art nouveau and film noir with a dash of Casino Royale – if your mind stretches that far. Notting Hill’s most glamorous restaurant/bar is offering a New Year’s Eve night with a jazz band and guest DJs till 2AM. There’s a four-course dinner too, for those [...]
BA SUES UNION OVER XMAS STRIKE CRISIS December 15, 2009 BELEAGUERED airline British Airways (BA) is taking legal action against the Unite union in a desperate bid to prevent cabin crew from striking over the peak Christmas period, it said yesterday. Thousands of cabin crew voted to walk out for 12 days from 22 December earlier this week, in the latest blow to an airline [...]
C Suisse to pay £329m fine to US December 15, 2009 CREDIT Suisse shocked the financial markets last night after it revealed it expected to pay US authorities a hefty $536m (£329m) following a probe into its financial dealings with Iran. The Swiss bank said the settlement would likely result in a SFr445m charge this quarter, or a net impact of SFr360m after tax. Manhattan District [...]
Rock chooses Pym as its boss December 15, 2009 RICHARD Pym, the chairman of Bradford and Bingley, is being brought in to head up the “bad bank” division of Northern Rock. Following the restructuring of the state-owned bank to take effect New Year’s day, Pym will become chairman of Northern Rock (Asset Management), which will hold the bulk of the existing mortgage book. Current [...]
Nobody should ever be bailed out again December 15, 2009 CAPITALISM only really works when success is rewarded and failure punished. So as the New Year approaches, here is a radical suggestion: let us usher in a new era of personal responsibility. Let 2010 be a year of no bailouts, no handouts, no bleating and no more blaming everybody else for one’s own mistakes. This [...]
Galleon founder indicted December 15, 2009 A US grand jury yesterday indicted Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and co-defendant Danielle Chiesi for their alleged involvement in a $20m (£12.2m) insider trading ring. The indictment – a formal accusation that moves the case to trial – charges them with conspiracy and securities fraud. Both billionaire Rajaratnam, 52, and Chiesi, who is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MYNERS TO BOOST PROTECTION OF BANK CLIENTS PLANS to increase protection for clients and counterparties of failing investment banks will be unveiled by the Treasury today in an effort to prevent a repeat of the legal wrangling around the collapsed Lehman Brothers. The move is aimed at ensuring an orderly wind-down of investment [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF December 15, 2009 XTO Energy boss in $46m deal XTO Energy Inc Chairman Bob Simpson and other officers have waived the change in control provisions in their employment agreements as part of their deal to be bought by Exxon Mobil and have instead signed consulting deals with the oil major. Under the new agreement, Simpson could receive up [...]
City firms in fresh attacks on bonus tax December 15, 2009 STEPHEN Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, warned yesterday that the politicisation of bankers’ bonuses could wipe billions of pounds off the taxpayer’s stake in RBS. Treasury plans to levy a one-off 50 per cent tax on bank bonuses have added to woes at the Scottish institution, whose directors were already at loggerheads [...]