Home Retail appoints new Argos boss February 1, 2012 Home Retail Group has appointed a former Best Buy executive to be the new boss of its struggling Argos business. The firm named John Walden as managing director of the 759-store Argos chain, reporting to group chief executive Terry Duddy. Walden, who was at top US electricals retailer Best Buy between 1999 and 2007 before [...]
Goodwin stripped of knighthood January 31, 2012 FRED Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood last night, three years after Royal Bank of Scotland was saved from collapse by a £45bn taxpayer bailout. The former chief executive, who was knighted for “services to banking” in 2004, lost the title after a committee of civil servants decided he had brought the honours system into [...]
Former Goldman stars plot new investment fund January 31, 2012 THREE Goldman partners are eyeing the creation of a new investment fund after throwing in the towel on investment banking, City A.M. has learned. Ed Eisler, who quit recently as co-head of global securities, has teamed up with fellow ex-Goldman partners Sam Wisnia, who was a managing director in fixed income, and Chris Barter, former [...]
Facebook poised to file for its mega-float January 31, 2012 FACEBOOK is expected to file for its long-awaited flotation today, kick-starting the process that will see the social network list as a publicly traded company eight years after Mark Zuckerberg launched the website from his Harvard bedroom. Facebook has been notoriously tight-lipped regarding its soon-to-be status as a public company, but the California-based firm is [...]
Sovereign risk appetite falls January 31, 2012 SOVEREIGN wealth funds are heavily reining in their investment in risky new deals because they are sitting on huge losses from bets made during the crisis, according to three senior investment banking sources. In aggregate, sovereign wealth funds have lost a staggering $62bn of the $90bn in capital they plunged into financial stocks in 2007-2008, [...]
Romney ahead in the polls January 31, 2012 MITT Romney was well on his way to winning the latest vote for the Republican presidential nomination, early polls showed this morning. Romney supporters waved flags and chanted his name at a victory party that kicked off less than an hour after the Florida polls shut. He thanked his supporters when he appeared at the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 31, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES EU TO RULE ON DEUTSCHE BÖRSE AND NYSE MERGER The NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse tie-up today faces its day of reckoning in Brussels, as European Union commissioners are expected to sign-off a recommendation to block a merger that allegedly stifles competition. BAA SIGNALS END TO HOPES OVER STANSTED RUNWAY BAA has signalled [...]
Ex-Credit Suisse staff probed January 31, 2012 Authorities are preparing to charge former Credit Suisse Group employees with criminal and civil fraud related to write-downs on subprime mortgage derivatives in 2008, according to sources familiar with the matter. Credit Suisse will not be charged in the matter being investigated by federal prosecutors and the SEC, the sources said. The investigation stems from [...]
UN states urge action over Syria January 31, 2012 Arab and Western states yesterday urged the UN Security Council to quickly call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside as his government’s forces reasserted control of Damascus suburbs after beating back rebels at the gates of the capital. Foreign secretary William Hague made it clear that the resolution “does not call for military [...]
FSA imposes £3m fine – but police in cold January 31, 2012 THE FORMER UK boss of private equity firm JC Flowers, who was yesterday handed a £2.87m fine by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), narrowly escaped a criminal trial, City A.M. has learnt. Sources in the City of London Police said “the force was very keen to take this on” but that JC Flowers appeared reluctant [...]