Rolet relief as LSE set to seize LCH.Clearnet April 2, 2012 THE LONDON Stock Exchange is closing in on its takeover of LCH.Clearnet after winning sufficient backing from shareholders in the clearing house. The deal, which values London-based LCH at €813m (£675.7m), is expected to be approved today at shareholder meetings of both firms. The LSE plans to take a stake of up to 60 per [...]
Standard Life bosses bag £2m each in 2011 April 2, 2012 TWO directors of insurance firm Standard Life earned more than £2m each last year, according to figures contained in the firm’s annual report released yesterday. Chief executive David Nish took home £2.04m, including a £1m bonus, while there was a seven per cent pay rise for Keith Skeoch, head of the group’s asset management arm, [...]
Markit buys Data Explorers April 2, 2012 FINANCIAL data firm Markit yesterday bought stock lending analytics firm Data Explorers from private equity firm Bowmark Capital for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is Markit’s first move into the securities lending business at a time when firms are looking to increase their use of this market to meet regulatory requirements for more collateral. “[The [...]
Search for new BBA boss starts as Knight quits April 2, 2012 THE HEAD of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the banking trade body, is to step down after a tumultuous five years at the helm, marking a period of heavy lobbying by lenders. Former Tory MP and BBA chief Angela Knight said she is leaving in the summer because “I have one more job in me”, [...]
Report: Directors setting each others’ pay harms businesses April 2, 2012 BUSINESSES welcomed calls for more diversity in large firms’ remuneration committees yesterday, supporting claims that executive pay is too often decided by cliques of former bosses. The High Pay Centre think-tank’s report showed 46 per cent of pay committee members are current or former lead executives. Directors on the committees may find it hard to [...]
Councils bring court case over HS2 plans April 2, 2012 FIFTEEN local councils yesterday launched a judicial appeal against the government’s £33bn High Speed Two rail expansion plans. A group of councils under the name 51m have lodged the legal challenge because they claim residents from London Euston to the Midlands have not been consulted over the scheme. The rail link, which in its current [...]
Illumina rejects new Roche bid April 2, 2012 ILLUMINA said yesterday its board has unanimously rejected Roche’s increased offer to buy the genetic sequencing company for $51 per share, or $6.7bn (£4.2bn), saying it dramatically undervalued the company. Swiss drugmaker Roche last week raised its offer to buy Illumina from an initial overture of $44.50 per share in an effort to curry support [...]
Entwistle aims to raise £75m for new bank April 2, 2012 THE former chairman of Adam & Co hopes to raise £75m to set up his new private bank. Ray Entwistle said he plans to issue a prospectus for Scoban this week in an attempt to win more funds from potential investors. “We need £50m for the core bank and £25m to buy asset managers,” Entwistle [...]
BoA Merrill’s Meissner has a huge mountain to climb April 2, 2012 lNVESTMENT bankers rarely have a good word to say about any of their rivals, so it is quite striking when one of their number elicits mainly positive responses. That is quite noticeably true of Christian Meissner, who earlier this year was named as head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment banking operations. Meissner’s immediate [...]
Losses widens at Irish lender April 2, 2012 IRISH Life & Permanent’s banking arm has reported a wider full-year loss due to soaring impairment charges ahead of a split from the group’s life division and a government decision on whether it can remain as a standalone lender. Its loss after tax, including a gain of €1bn (£831m) on imposing losses on junior bondholders, [...]