Brown and Sarkozy team up to tackle oil price volatility July 6, 2009 PRIME Minister Gordon Brown joined French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in an attempt to curtail oil price volatility, as part of a move towards tougher global governance to prevent a return to problems that existed before the financial crisis. Speaking at a Franco-British summit ahead of a meeting of G8 leaders in Italy this week, [...]
Former AIG chief lied in court, alleges the insurer’s lawyer July 6, 2009 MAURICE “Hank” Greenberg, former chief executive of American International Group (AIG), fabricated documents and lied under oath in a bid to cloud who is the rightful beneficiary of over $4.3bn (£2.6bn) from stock sales, AIG lawyer Ted Wells told a jury yesterday. Wells said Greenberg’s assertions at trial that the stock was intended for a [...]
7/7 MEMORIAL UNVEILED July 6, 2009 PRINCE Charles will today officially unveil the Hyde Park monument to the victims of the 7/7 bombings of four years ago. The £1m memorial consists of 52 three-metre tall stainless steel pillars, in memory of each of the victims who died when terrorists detonated four explosive devices on public transport in London. A plaque naming [...]
BA’s cost cuts are rejected by workers July 6, 2009 BRITAIN edged closer towards a summer of holiday disruption yesterday, as 2,000 cabin crew and ground staff rejected cost cutting plans put to them by British Airways (BA). The flag carrier is striving to cut costs after it reported a record loss of £401m earlier this year. BA had set a 30 June deadline to [...]
Number of mortgage products at all-time low as lenders withdraw July 6, 2009 THE VOLUME of mortgage products on offer has slumped to the lowest level on record, leaving homeowners with a severe lack of options for taking out loans as the recession continues to curb lending. Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com said borrowers now have just 2,282 deals from which to choose, while first-time buyers have a range [...]
PEPSICO LOOKS FOR RUSSIAN FIZZ July 6, 2009 PepsiCo pledged yesterday to invest $1bn (£616m) in Russia over three years. It said it was confident in the Russian market, which is still growing despite the financial crisis. Russia is critical for PepsiCo, which is looking to boost profits as recession and changing consumer habits limit sales growth in the US.
Strike warning over Diageo cuts July 6, 2009 Union leaders have said they cannot rule out balloting for strike action in their fight against job cuts at drinks firm Diageo. Members of the union Unite are due to meet in London to plan their campaign against the axing of 900 workers in Kilmarnock and Glasgow. The company has said restructuring is needed to [...]
DoJ mulling telecom probe July 6, 2009 The US Justice Department is looking at big telecom firms like AT&T and Verizon Communications to see if they have abused their market power by entering into exclusive agreements with the makers of popular phones like the Apple iPhone.
Nomura’s exit triggers AIG Wharf payout July 6, 2009 JAPANESE bank Nomura’s decision to ditch the former Lehman Brothers office and house its 3,600 employees in the City will trigger a rental insurance payout of up to £224m for Canary Wharf. As City A.M. revealed yesterday, Nomura has signed a deal to move into the riverside complex Watermark Place in 2010, meaning it will [...]
Setback for Phorm after BT opts out July 6, 2009 SHARES in the controversial online behavioural monitoring firm Phorm plummeted 42 per cent to 265p yesterday after BT said it had no immediate plans to roll out the firm’s Webwise Discover service. Telecoms giant BT was a major player in the development of the system, which collects information on users’ online behaviour and targets them [...]