US merger for Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt June 29, 2009 CONSULTING firms Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt Worldwide plan to merge in an all-stock deal valued at about $3.5bn (£2.1bn), as they hope to cut costs amid an economic slump that caused clients to curb discretionary spending. Under terms of the deal, announced yesterday, Watson Wyatt’s shareholders will get half of the [...]
JUSTICE IS DONE AS MADOFF GETS 150 YRS June 29, 2009 DISGRACED financier Bernie Madoff will die in jail after he was yesterday sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum punishment allowed for what the judge called “extraordinarily evil” crimes. US district attorney judge Denny Chin handed down the punishment to Madoff for perpetrating a $65bn (£40bn) investment fraud – Wall Street’s biggest and most [...]
Ponzi victims left penniless June 29, 2009 JUDGE Denny Chin yesterday said that Bernard Madoff deserved the maximum sentence, typically handed down to organized crime bosses, saying that the fraud was “staggering”. Investigators will not know for some time where all the billions went, or how much was actually stolen, though they believe that some cash may be hidden in offshore tax [...]
Money supply makes world go round June 29, 2009 NOT since the 1980s have the Bank of England’s monthly monetary statistics been this closely followed in the City. Yet money has always mattered and has always moved markets – and had economists and investment bankers spent more time monitoring this data in the noughties, it might have been a little more obvious to them [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 29, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BT’S PENSION SCHEME TO HOLD LESS IN EQUITIESThe BT Group Pension Scheme had only enough money at the end of 2008 to pay about 57 per cent of promised benefits if the telecommunications company were to become insolvent, and said it intended to pare back sharply its future investments in equities in the [...]
Facebook announces new CFO June 29, 2009 Social network Facebook has hired the former chief financial officer of Genentech as its chief financial officer (CFO), filling a spot that has been empty for about three months. Facebook said yesterday that David Ebersman will join the company in September. Ebersman served as CFO of Genentech from 2006 until April this year, when the [...]
Candover gets bids for Ontex June 29, 2009 Private equity group Candover has received interest from a number of parties for its Belgian-based nappy maker, Ontex. The sale of the nappy maker, which is understood to be worth around £808m, would raise much-needed capital for Candover, which yesterday said that it had ended takeover talks after securing its own finances and extending its [...]
RHJ steps up its Opel offer June 29, 2009 GENERAL Motors is rekindling talks with bidders for its European Opel unit and is thought to be close to signing a memorandum of understanding with RHJ, suggesting talks with lead bidder Magna have stalled. Canadian group Magna is understood to remain the preferred bidder – after signing a memorandum to buy 55 per cent of [...]
Hedge funds post their best monthly returns in nine years June 29, 2009 HEDGE funds posted their best monthly returns in over nine years in May as an appetite for risk returned to the industry, according to data released yesterday. The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index closed up 4.1 per cent in May, with nine out of ten strategies posting positive returns. Emerging markets funds had the best [...]
Cantor Fitzgerald to create 100 new jobs in its UK operations June 29, 2009 US BOND trader Cantor Fitzgerald has unveiled plans to create 100 jobs in its UK investment banking operations. Chief executive Shawn Matthews said that the company is seeking to exploit the disappearance of rivals from the middle tier of the sector. “We’re looking to build out a global footprint that’s already in place and looking [...]