Cable wants more activist shareholders November 22, 2012 INVESTORS should get together to exert greater pressure on businesses, using a forum to establish common ground to better force company directors to fit shareholders’ long term aims, business secretary Vince Cable urged yesterday. And he said a new stewardship code, binding shareholders’ votes on pay and proposed rules to force fund managers to act [...]
Eurozone faces worst services drop since 2009 November 22, 2012 THE EUROZONE’S service sector fell to an even steeper decline in November, data revealed yesterday, keeping overall activity at levels suggesting sharp economic contraction. Service activity fell to 45.7 this month, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from Markit said, down from 46 in October and solidly below the 50 level indicating no change. This fall [...]
UBS is still a big player despite recent predicaments November 22, 2012 Anybody taking just a cursory glance at the headlines about UBS’s investment bank recently, might be forgiven for thinking it was something of a basket case. What with the news of a plan to shrink headcount by 10,000, a strategic refocusing of strategy away from high risk, complex trading products, followed by a guilty verdict [...]
Reckitt secures healthy boost with Schiff deal November 22, 2012 CONSUMER products group Reckitt Benckiser is to acquire Schiff Nutrition for $1.4bn (£878m). The board of Schiff Nutrition, which sells vitamins, nutrition supplements and nutrition bars, has approved the transaction at $42 a share and recommended shareholders agree the deal. The FTSE 100 consumer group will finance the deal using cash and existing credit facilities. [...]
Barclays quits open outcry trade at LME November 22, 2012 MAJOR commodities player Barclays quit open outcry floor trading at the London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday, downgrading its membership at the world’s biggest marketplace for industrial metals to cut costs. The commodities operations of banks like Barclays face tough times and total commodities trading turnover for the 10 biggest investment banks has tumbled 20 per [...]
Death knell for final salary in pension rejig November 22, 2012 A NEW workplace pension model was proposed yesterday in an effort to limit the financial risk for both employers and employees. Under the controversial proposals, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has suggested an employer can end a final salary pension scheme when an employee leaves the firm, thereby cutting the firms’ risk exposure. [...]
Sarah Brown joins Harrods board November 22, 2012 SARAH Brown, the wife of former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has been appointed as a non-executive director of Harrods, the luxury department store said yesterday. Brown will work within the marketing and corporate social responsibility division.
Argentina ordered to pay its bond holders November 22, 2012 ARGENTINA could be pushed into a fresh default on its debts, after a US judge ordered the country to pay holders of $1.33bn-worth of bonds that were defaulted upon during its 2001 financial crisis. Judge Thomas Griesa has lifted a previous order stalling payments to so-called holdout investors, many of them hedge funds, who refused [...]
FSA set to tighten rules on SIPP plans November 22, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA), which regulates the City, is planning to quadruple capital requirements on firms offering self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) to offset the costs of winding the companies down if they fail. Currently, firms offering SIPPs must hold a minimum of £5,000 – but the FSA plans to hike this requirement to £20,000, [...]
Peroni pints for £5 aid SABMiller beat downturn November 22, 2012 BREWING giant SABMiller said yesterday that positioning itself as a premium seller in the UK had reaped rewards, as the Peroni maker bucked a declining market to record a rise in lager sales. “We are focusing on that premium brand position and we don’t apologise for some of our partners charging five quid a pint,” [...]