Hedgies go to war with EU’s Michel Barnier April 2, 2012 HEDGE funds have called on Europe to clear up how controversial new rules governing the sector will be enforced, but their comments have been dismissed by EU officials as special pleading. The Alternative Investment Mangement Association said that a new directive drafted by the European Commission appears to “significantly and substantially diverge” from the advice of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES OBAMA WIDENS LEAD AS REPUBLICAN SOCIAL DEBATE ALIENATES WOMEN Barack Obama has opened a large lead over Mitt Romney among women voters arfter the recent conservative debate in the US over contraception, according to a new poll. Obama has struggled to win voters’ trust on the economy. DATA WATCHDOG JOINS ROW OVER EMAIL [...]
Fuel tanker talks due tomorrow April 2, 2012 Talks to head off a threatened strike by British fuel tanker drivers will take place tomorrow, mediation body Acas said yesterday, over a dispute which has led to criticism of the government and already prompted panic-buying by motorists. The Unite union, which represents the 2,000 drivers who have voted for a strike, and the seven [...]
Murdoch faces call for new chair April 2, 2012 News Corp faces a call to appoint an independent board chairman on concerns Rupert Murdoch’s media company needs to pursue more reforms to deal with its phone-hacking scandal. The proxy proposal, filed by Christian Brothers Investment Services, is likely to fan an ongoing controversy over governance at the company. Although unlikely to get a majority [...]
Recession fears brushed off by UK businesses April 2, 2012 FEARS of a technical recession have eased as a couple of upbeat business surveys suggest that the UK economy grew in the opening three months of the year. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) announced this morning that they expect GDP expansion of 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, reversing the knock-back [...]
Bullish American data pushes S&P to a fresh four-year high April 2, 2012 ANOTHER wave of upbeat economic data in the US last night pushed the S&P 500 to a fresh four-year intraday high. The highly-regarded ISM factory survey reported growth in the sector for the 32nd straight month. The index jumped from 52.4 for 53.4, reflecting faster expansion. All scores above 50 indicate economic growth. The positive news provided [...]
Co-operative Bank hikes its mortgage rate April 2, 2012 THE Co-operative Bank has become the latest UK bank to raise its standard variable mortgage rate (SVR) by half a percentage point in the face of higher costs. The rate will go up from 4.24 per cent to 4.74 per cent on 1 May – raising mortgages an average £15 per month for around 54,000 [...]
Misys sinks as ValueAct and CVC walk away April 2, 2012 SHARES in Misys dropped three per cent yesterday when ValueAct and CVC admitted they do not intend to bid for the banking software firm. The private equity partnership, which had until yesterday to “put up or shut up”, confirmed it would not rival Vista’s £1.27bn offer for Misys. ValueAct, which holds a 21.5 per cent [...]
MEET THE LAST ONE STANDING: VISTA April 2, 2012 Vista Equity Partners first piped up on 20 February and two weeks ago unveiled a £1.27bn cash offer for Misys. Officed in San Francisco, Chicago and Austin, the company invests in software and technology enabled businesses, “with a focus on long-term value creation”. It counts among its portfolio Turaz, the trade and risk management software [...]
Chancellor hits out at India’s tax plans April 2, 2012 BRITISH chancellor George Osborne yesterday warned Indian authorities that a retrospective tax on cross border investment would hit the Asian country’s economic development. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already been advised against implementing the measures by international trade groups representing more than 250,000 companies. The plans would retrospectively tax acquisitions of Indian assets, such as [...]