IT consultant ordered to pay £50,000 after being accused of stealing Soho House members’ personal details
Thomson Reuters in talks with Breakingviews site July 14, 2009 THOMSON Reuters, the financial information service, is in takeover talks with Breakingviews.com, the financial analysis company. Breakingviews, which was founded by former Financial Times journalist Hugo Dixon nine years ago, has been expanding rapidly, investing heavily in New York and the far east. It is said to be profitable in Europe but loss-making outside Europe [...]
BA considers a fundraising July 14, 2009 CASH-strapped airline British Airways (BA) said it was exploring options to raise funds yesterday, as the firm’s directors faced the wrath of its shareholders over controversial cost-cutting plans. Chairman Martin Broughton said at the company’s annual meeting that BA was considering a convertible bond issue as a way of raising cash, while chief executive Willie [...]
RHJ plans offer of 300m for a stake in Opel July 14, 2009 RHJ INTERNATIONAL, a rival bidder to frontrunner Magna for German carmaker Opel, is planning to offer around €300m (£256.9m) for a stake of just over 50 per cent in the group, it emerged yesterday. RHJ’s bid comes in below the €660m that Beijing Automotive (BAIC) intends to invest for a 51 per cent stake in [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD GOLDMAN SACHS BE RIGHT TO RETURN TO BIG BONUSES? July 14, 2009 GARY FIELD CORNHILL FX“It certainly goes against the Obama administration’s recent sentiments. But as a business that is trying to make money and move forward, they need to keep hold of their best staff if they want to continue with the same degree of success.”GRAEME STEPHEN HEDGE FUND“If they’ve paid their bailout money back then [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: DOES BRITVIC’S TRADING UPDATE QUENCH YOUR THIRST? July 14, 2009 SIMON HALES NUMISGood weather conditions have helped market growth, especially in June, but importantly Britvic continues to significantly outperform the market in Great Britain. Ireland has deteriorated but the cost savings programme remains on track. Ireland remains a relatively small part of the business, but it will become increasingly part of the company. We hope [...]
Markit to be investigated in CDS probe July 14, 2009 THE US Justice Department (DoJ) has contacted London-based data provider Markit in connection with a probe into the credit default swap (CDS) market. A spokesman for Markit said the company, which is majority-owned by Wall Street banks, had “been informed of an investigation by the Department of Justice into the credit-derivatives and related markets”. “We [...]
Let banks fail, says US investment sage July 14, 2009 OUTSPOKEN US investor Jim Rogers says banks should have been left to go bankrupt. Rogers, who made his fortune alongside well-known speculator George Soros, said that while he did not begrudge banks now making a profit, they should not have received government bailouts to save them. Speaking as Goldman Sachs – who received massive state [...]
Solvency II will hit UK insurers July 14, 2009 Most British insurers expect to spend £500,000 complying with new European Union solvency rules, according to a survey by accountants BDO Stoy Hayward. It found 61 per cent of respondents put the cost of complying with the so-called Solvency II regime at £500,000 while 19 percent predicted costs in excess of £1m. Solvency II, scheduled [...]
Increase in firms on edge easing July 14, 2009 ALMOST 200,000 British companies are in serious financial trouble, according to the Red Flag Alert report issued by Begbies Traynor. The business rescue specialist said that while the number of companies in trouble has slowed in the last two quarters, it has risen 43 per cent from a year ago. The report, which gives figures [...]
GRIPE VAN MAN July 14, 2009 RUSSSIAN billionaire Oleg Deripaska said last night he is considering cutting ties with Britain after the collapse of his van-making company LDV. He had appealed to the UK government for financial assistance but a bail out was not forthcoming.