Bankruptcy of Lehman ends March 6, 2012 THE RECORD $639bn (£406.8bn) bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers ended yesterday, clearing the way for it to start distributing about $65bn to creditors starting on 17 April, court documents show. Lehman has said that it expects that first group of payments to creditors to be at least $10bn. Lehman, now a small fraction of its former [...]
New FSA rules add £3bn cost to PPI scandal March 6, 2012 BANKS could face £3bn in further costs from mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) after the FSA hit them with new guidelines saying they must write to every customer who could potentially be affected. That means lenders will now have to go back through over 16m policies worth £17bn sold over the last seven years and [...]
Alliance Trust raises dividend despite year of global turmoil March 6, 2012 THE head of Alliance Trust said she had witnessed a “perfect storm” in the global economy as the firm offered its largest dividend increase in 20 years. Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief executive, said equity markets remain “as challenging as at any time in generations”. “We have witnessed a perfect storm created by the global financial crisis [...]
Essar and Cairn expected to lose their places in FTSE 100 March 6, 2012 ENERGY firms Essar and Cairn look set to crash out of the FTSE 100 in next week’s index reshuffle, based on their closing prices yesterday. Essar, which has seen its share price slump nearly 60 per cent in the last three months on worries about tax and delays at its Indian plants, fell more than [...]
Finance lags as recruiter grows in Asia March 6, 2012 MICHAEL Page saw 2011 revenues boosted by growth in its Asia-Pacific business, but it wasn’t enough to lift operating profits, which fell by three per cent over the year. Revenues in the recruitment specialist’s Asian operations rose 38 per cent to £166m while overall revenues hit £1.02bn – up from £832m in 2010. Chief executive [...]
Banks blame FSA for choking off credit to small businesses March 6, 2012 BANKS are stepping up their efforts to convince ministers that the FSA’s approach to regulation could permanently damage the UK economy. In a policy paper sent to the Breedon Taskforce, a special government policy unit set up to examine how to expand credit supply to small businesses (SMEs), the banks slam the FSA for choking off [...]
Swiss parliament votes to weaken bank secrecy March 6, 2012 SWITZERLAND’S parliament has passed a proposal that aims to settle an ongoing dispute with the US over the tax evasion involving hidden offshore accounts. The lower house agreed to back the plan – which clarifies how Switzerland would hand over data on Americans suspected of dodging taxes at home – by 110 votes to 56. [...]
Long-term growth takes time to pay March 6, 2012 IT’S becoming a familiar story by now. Recruiters who built their businesses by focusing on the UK and its once lucrative financial services sector are having to turn their back on the past in search of growth pastures new. Michael Page’s results only cement the increasingly downbeat picture of City jobs – financial services is [...]
Nissan in jobs boost but GM fears mount March 6, 2012 BRITAIN will build at least an extra 100,000 Nissan cars each year after the Japanese firm agreed to invest $200m (£127m) in its Sunderland site. Production of the Invitation hatchback will begin in the middle of next year in a boost to the automotive industry, which is becoming more anxious over the future of General [...]
Peugeot offers big discount on shares March 6, 2012 FRENCH carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen announced the terms of a €1bn (£832m) share sale to fund its alliance with General Motors, offering a big discount to draw in funds for overseas expansion and new models. GM and Peugeot announced an alliance last week to co-operate on developing new cars with the aim of saving $2bn [...]