Pfizer is fined record $2.3bn September 2, 2009 THE US drugs giant Pfizer yesterday agreed to plead guilty to a criminal charge relating to promotion of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine.The group said it would pay a record $2.3 bn (£1.61bn) to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines. The world’s biggest drugmaker was slapped with the huge fines after being deemed a [...]
Activists lose key vote in fight against Sovereign September 2, 2009 SOVEREIGNReversions has survived its no-holds-barred fight against a group of activist shareholders, after they lost a controversial vote to oust the property investment fund’s board. The rebels planned to install Countrywide chairman Harry Hill as head of the fund and to sell off its assets to deliver instant income to investors, but only gained the [...]
Wells Fargo to pay back Tarp money from profits September 2, 2009 WALL Street bank Wells Fargo said yesterday that it would soon be able to repay the $25bn (£15.4bn) in Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) funding it took from the US government without resorting to a share offering. The bank, America’s fourth largest with $1.25 trillion in assets, said it would repay the bailout money from [...]
Call to close Fannie and Freddie September 2, 2009 The US Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has urged the government to replace twin mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a group of private firms issuing mortgage bonds backed by the state. The MBA’s plan would see federally regulated private firms known as Mortgage Credit Guarantor Entities – nicknamed “McGees” – purchase loans, sell [...]
Canada to chase UBSclient data September 2, 2009 Canada could pursue Swiss bank UBS in court if bank officials refuse to disclose the names of Canadian clients who are evading taxes using UBS accounts. “They can go to court to try to compel UBS to disgorge names of Canadian taxpayers that have accounts there, but I’d say it’s a toss-up as to whether [...]
China buys first IMF bonds September 2, 2009 China has agreed to buy the first International Monetary Fund bonds for about $50 bn (£31bn). IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Yi Gang, signed the agreement yesterday at IMF headquarters in Washington. Under the agreement, the Chinese central bank will purchase up to 32bn SpecialDrawing [...]
BORIS IS A BLONDE BOMBSHELL IN BELGIUM September 2, 2009 LONDON’S flaxen-haired mayor just can’t help making waves wherever he goes. Boris Johnson was in Brussels yesterday, lobbying the European Union over its draft directive on the alternative investment management industry, in defence of the UK’s numerous hedge funds. But though he happily deployed his usual self-deprecatory sense of humour to good effect throughout the [...]
BORIS: I’M CITY’S NEW CHAMPION September 2, 2009 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday took the fight to save the City to Brussels, where he lobbied EU officials over plans to crack down on hedge funds, private equity houses and the alternative investment sector. Johnson met with various MEPs and Charlie McCreevy, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, to highlight the problems contained within the [...]
UK to fight French in bonus row September 2, 2009 EUROPEAN Union finance ministers yesterday agreed to work together to regulate bankers’ pay – but the UK is set to fight plans to cap bonuses. In the run up to the G20 meetings, France and Germany have been drumming up support for the idea of bonus caps, including a targeted tax and a legal maximum [...]