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 [...]
Bell sounds out Chime’s public relations division January 31, 2012 LORD Bell is considering a management buyout of parts of Chime, the marketing group which he chairs. Margaret Thatcher’s former media guru, as well as Chime deputy chair Piers Pottinger and other executives, plan to buy some of Chime’s public relations businesses, the firm said. Chime, which provides services in public relations, advertising and sports [...]
BAE loses to Dassault over £7bn contract January 31, 2012 BAE Systems has been beaten in the race to secure an Indian government fighter jet contract by French manufacturer Dassault. The Dassault Rafale is understood to have been identified as preferred model for the contract, worth up to $11bn (£7bn), ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon – in a major blow to UK manufacturing. The Typhoon [...]
Apple hires Dixons boss as retail chief January 31, 2012 APPLE has poached John Browett, the boss of Dixons Retail, to take charge of its burgeoning network of retail stores. He will join the US technology giant in April as senior vice president of retail, replacing Ron Johnson, who resigned from Apple last November to join the US department store chain JC Penney as chief [...]