Liar loans set to be banned October 18, 2009 THE Financial Services Authority will today unveil reforms to the mortgage market, including rules to ensure that they are only given to those who can keep up the repayments. Self-certified mortgages – where a borrower is not required to prove their income – are expected to be banned as part of the watchdog’s review of [...]
Windfall taxes cannot be the answer October 18, 2009 IF TAX policy were determined by referenda, London’s financial institutions would be in even greater trouble than they already are. I was a guest on James Max’s LBC radio show yesterday and it was soon clear that the overwhelming majority of callers hate banks with a passion. My own position, which is that it would [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 18, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday Telegraph £5.5BN PLAN FOR POWER STATIONA £5.5bn planning application, the largest ever in central London, will be made today when Ireland’s Real Estate Opportunities and Treasury Holdings reveal their blueprint for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. Plans for the mixed commercial and residential site, which developers say will be as iconically [...]
Kroll to take on Moody’s October 18, 2009 JULES Kroll, the founder of security and intelligence firm Kroll, is planning to launch a credit rating agency to take on the existing “big three”. Kroll – who last month opened a risk consulting company in New York and London – is understood to be planning to roll out the new firm as early as [...]
CME in 3.05bn deal talks October 18, 2009 CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, is in talks to take over the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) in a deal that would value the largest US options market at up to $5bn (£3.05bn), according to US media reports. Further talks are on hold until after Wednesday, reports said. A deal of such a [...]
Fund manager accused October 18, 2009 The US government has claimed that New York-based hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam – who has been charged in connection with an alleged insider trading scam – was funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, considered a terrorist organisation by US authorities. The Sri Lankan defence ministry told the Financial Times that locally-born Rajaratnam had [...]
Four insiders plot MBO at KBC Peel Hunt October 18, 2009 NO LESS than four separate internal management teams are hard at work plotting a buy-out of stockbroking and corporate finance house KBC Peel Hunt after its Belgian banking owner KBC put the division up for sale last month, City A.M. can reveal. KBC Peel Hunt chief executive Simon Hayes was revealed last month to be [...]
Blue skies ahead for BAA as Gatwick sale is set to take off October 18, 2009 GLOBAL Infrastructure Partners (GIP) could snap up Gatwick as early as tomorrow, after months of talks. Airport owner BAA, which is disposing of the London hub after a ruling from the Competition Commission (CC), is thrashing out the final details of the sale with GIP, including the price tag. BAA, which is owned by Spanish [...]
Credit Suisse in building sale October 18, 2009 Swiss bank Credit Suisse has struck a deal to sell one of its Canary Wharf buildings to a group of investors for £150m. The consortium, which is understood to be led by Monaco-based M1 Real Estate, beat over 25 rival bidders to secure 20 Columbus Courtyard in the Docklands. Credit Suisse is in the process [...]
Russia to raise $18bn by bond October 18, 2009 RUSSIA is to launch its first international bond in a decade in a bid to boost its public finances. Russia, which last issued a bond aimed at international investors in 2000, has signalled plans to raise up to $18bn (£11bn) in dollar-denominated securities in the first quarter of next year as the cost of borrowing [...]