Ackman hits Soros with complaint in hedgie food fight August 5, 2013 BILLIONAIRE financier Bill Ackman has stepped up his battle against US food giant Herbalife by asking regulators to probe a stake taken in the company by rival investor George Soros. Ackman has reportedly written to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US watchdog, accusing Soros’ fund of breaking trading rules over its recent investment [...]
EU looks to adopt Britain’s tough bank capital rules August 5, 2013 EUROPE’S banks could soon face the same tough conditions as their British peers as the continent’s regulators yesterday said they would look at imposing a leverage ratio cap similar to that taking hold in the UK. British lenders such as Barclays and Nationwide have been caught by the three per cent cap, with both forced [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 6 August 2013 August 5, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES UK weighs legal action over Gibraltar Britain is looking at whether it can take Spain to the European courts over its treatment of British nationals at the border with Gibraltar. UK officials are taking advice on whether checks on cars as they try to cross from Spain into Gibraltar violate EU rules on [...]
BP faces £18m fine from US August 5, 2013 THE US Federal energy regulator yesterday gave oil giant BP 30 days to explain why it should not be fined $28m (£18.2m) and give up $800,000 plus interest in profits for manipulating the natural gas market. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said that BP traders had suppressed gas prices “with the goal of increasing the value [...]
Vodafone gears up for 4G launch August 5, 2013 VODAFONE will this week announce plans to roll out its 4G mobile network at the end of the month – in the same week as rival telecoms firm O2. The FTSE 100 listed giant is expected to announce that 4G will come on stream for customers in just over three weeks’ time. O2 is also [...]
Washington Post sold to Amazon boss August 5, 2013 JEFF Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, will buy the Washington Post newspaper for $250m, bringing the curtain down on its 80-year old ownership by the influential Graham family. Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994, will buy the newspaper and affiliate businesses in an all-cash deal, it emerged last night. The internet entrepreneur told employees in [...]
Slowing China hits HSBC profit growth hopes August 5, 2013 PROFITS jumped 10 per cent at HSBC after a campaign to cut costs and close inefficient business units, the bank announced yesterday. But the first half results fell short of investors’ hopes as emerging markets growth missed expectations, leaving the lender’s shares down 4.37 per cent at the end of the day. Pre-tax profits came [...]
Lloyds shares could climb to £1 each from dividend boost August 5, 2013 LLOYDS shares could hit 100p, UBS analysts predicted yesterday, up from 75.7p yesterday and more than four times their level just a year ago. The bank returned to profit in the first half of the year, and chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio last week said he wants the bank to begin paying large dividends. And [...]
Bottom Line: Bank takes Flinty stance on bonuses August 5, 2013 FOR HSBC, a bank that makes 80 per cent of its profits outside of Europe yet is domiciled within it, the EU’s planned bonus cap would be a huge disadvantage when trying to attract talent. So it’s no wonder HSBC chairman Douglas Flint came out (almost) all guns blazing yesterday – his bank has [...]
Bank of Scotland fined for fax farce August 5, 2013 BANK of Scotland, part of Lloyds Banking Group, was yesterday fined £75,000 by the Information Commissioner for repeatedly faxing bank details and payslips to the wrong people. The error, which went on for three years, related to 32 customer accounts and happened after fax number digits were entered incorrectly. Lloyds has apologised.