Judge throws out AIG lawsuit November 19, 2012 A LAWSUIT by AIG’s former chief executive Hank Greenberg alleging the Federal Reserve Bank of New York broke the law during the 2008 government bailout of the failing insurance company was yesterday dismissed. Starr International, once a large shareholder in AIG, argued the US acted unconstitutionally when it took 80 per cent of AIG’s equity. [...]
Comet announces more job cuts November 19, 2012 Comet yesterday announced 735 further redundancies, in a bid to save cash as the troubled company tries to find a buyer for the best parts of the business. Some 603 employees working for its home delivery network were made redundant, along with 132 from the firm’s head office – but no staff in stores have [...]
HSBC in talks to sell $9bn China insurance stake November 19, 2012 HSBC yesterday revealed it was in talks to sell its 16 per cent stake in China’s second largest insurer Ping An in a move that would bolster the bank’s capital balance sheet. The firm said in a joint statement to the London and Hong Kong stock market it was in “discussions” with buyers over a [...]
Ocado delivers on its debts but profits aren’t in the bag November 19, 2012 BEFORE anyone gets too excited about Ocado’s share price rising by more than a fifth yesterday, the troubled online grocer is still trading at less than half its original float price of 180p, which was itself at the bottom of the hoped-for range back in 2010. Yesterday’s raising of £35.8m staved off Ocado’s most immediate [...]
ING wins more time from the EU to sell assets and repay state aid November 19, 2012 DUTCH banking and insurance group ING has won more time from regulators to shed assets and repay government aid, avoiding a fire sale but keeping it under state supervision for longer and delaying dividend payments. The EU’s competition watchdog agreed yesterday that ING, which received €10bn (£8bn) of state aid in the 2008 financial crisis, [...]
Firms shunning syndicated loan offer for bonds November 19, 2012 UK businesses’ use of syndicated loans has plunged to the lowest levels since 2009, as more and more firms use corporate bond markets to access financing, figures out yesterday show. Syndicated loan volumes for UK corporate borrowers, which measures money lent by a group of lenders to one borrower, now stands at $45.3bn (£28.5bn) for [...]
Fund managers complain that megamergers have little value November 19, 2012 CITY investors take a dim view of the value of megamergers and blame investment bankers for weakening the IPO market with unrealistic valuations, a new survey out today claims. A poll of fund managers from 200 major City investment houses found 72 per cent believed megamergers such as that of Glencore and Xstrata offer little [...]
Lloyds offloads Irish loan book November 19, 2012 Lloyds Banking Group has taken a 90 per cent loss on £1.47bn of troubled Irish real estate loans after selling them to US firm Apollo Global Management. The sale for £149m will not have a material impact because the value of the loans had been largely written down previously, Lloyds said yesterday. The end of [...]
City of London revenues jump November 19, 2012 Financial services group City of London yesterday said a 169 per cent rise in half year revenues had lifted its profits by a quarter. The firm, which recently raised £1.3m through a share placing, lends to small businesses and said the pullback of traditional bank lending had been a boon for the firm. Chief executive [...]
Gains for NB Private Equity November 19, 2012 NB Private Equity, the Dutch private equity fund listed in London, yesterday said its net asset value had increased 3.6 per cent in the last nine months. The increase was led by realised gains of $21.8m (£17.6m) from sales of private equity holdings in its portfolio. The firm also revised up its unaudited NAV figure [...]