UPS and TNT fail to deliver £4.3bn tie-up January 14, 2013 SHARES in delivery firm TNT Express slumped more than 40 per cent yesterday after its long-awaited €5.2bn (£4.3bn) takeover by United Parcel Service (UPS) collapsed under regulatory pressure. Despite efforts to appease the European Commission with offers to amend the deal, the firms were told on Friday that the EC intended to prohibit the purchase. [...]
Orcel heralds Novelli as he returns to UBS January 14, 2013 ANDREA Orcel, the newly appointed head of investment banking at UBS, has made his first significant hire, bringing deal-maker Piero Novelli back to the bank. Novelli, whose past clients include Gas Natural Fenosa, Repsol, Enel, Renault, ABB, Siemens, GM, Ford, Cisco and HP, left the Japanese bank Nomura at the end of last year by [...]
Bernanke and Obama call for debt limit hike January 14, 2013 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday joined forces to mount an assault on Republican plans to use the debt ceiling as a bargaining tool. Obama said there would be no spending cuts in exchange for a hiked debt limit, while Ben Bernanke likened refusing to raise the debt limit to [...]
Hedge funds lift debt levels in bid to cash in on equity rally January 14, 2013 HEDGE funds are loading up on record levels of debt to try and make money off the New Year rally in stock markets, according to industry figures leaked yesterday. Data from Morgan Stanley, seen by Bloomberg, shows gross leverage at US hedge funds – which measures money borrowed by funds versus money given to them [...]
Icap sells stake in post-trade firm to seven-bank consortium January 14, 2013 ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, yesterday said it had sold a 12 per cent stake in post-trade processing firm Traiana to a consortium of seven banks, valuing the business at $300m (£186.5m). Under the terms of the deal, the investors – Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Nomura and [...]
HSBC appoints new corporate Bank chiefs January 14, 2013 HSBC has appointed Dan Howlett and Ian Henley to run its European corporate banking arm, it revealed yesterday. Henley will be head of corporate banking across Europe while Howlett is the new head of corporate banking in the UK.
Heathrow hits record as flights to Brazil and Middle East soar January 14, 2013 HEATHROW Airport yesterday heralded a surge in passengers from Brazil and the Middle East for its record traffic numbers for 2012. Almost 70m passengers passed through the gates of Britain’s busiest airport last year, a rise of 0.9 per cent. In December alone, traffic jumped two per cent to 5.6m, making it Heathrow’s busiest ever [...]
Watchdog says stability rules will hit growth January 14, 2013 RAISING capital requirements for bank lending will promote financial stability but will also increase the cost of credit and hit the economy in the short run, the Bank of England acknowledged yesterday. Its policy document explaining how the Financial Policy Committee will try to identify and deal with financial bubbles also said the powers could [...]
Eurozone’s industry plummets January 14, 2013 INDUSTRIAL output collapsed in the Eurozone in November, official figures revealed yesterday, leaving economists certain the currency area is mired in recession again. Yet International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde argued that the Eurozone has turned a corner and that the economy is on the mend. “We forecast the Eurozone to be delivering growth in [...]
Tullett Prebon loses claim of staff poaching by rival BGC January 14, 2013 UK BROKERAGE giant Tullett Prebon yesterday lost a $16m (£9.9m) damages claim against rival US firm BGC Partners concerning an alleged raid on members of its workforce by BGC in 2011. The US financial watchdog Finra kicked out the damages claim by Tullett against BGC’s subsidiary BGC Financial over nine brokers it claims were poached [...]