Creditors back plan for MF Global UK January 9, 2012 CLIENTS and creditors of MF Global UK, part of the defunct US brokerage, may get some of their cash back next month after a crunch meeting with the administrator yesterday. They backed the proposals put forward by special administrator KPMG in a session which critics had billed as a vote of confidence. Richard Heis, joint [...]
Lazard poaches a BofA banker January 9, 2012 LAZARD, the independent investment bank, has poached a well-regarded managing director from rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Noah Bulkin is joining Lazard’s financial advisory team and is likely to continue acting mostly for retail clients. In the past he has worked on a string of high-profile deals such as Odeon and UCI Cinema’s £300m [...]
JP Morgan loss to boutique rival January 9, 2012 DEXION, a boutique investment bank focused on hedge funds, has scored a coup by snagging a highly regarded analyst from behemoth JP Morgan Cazenove. Senior analyst Tom Skinner has left the bulge bracket bank to head up research at Dexion, expanding its coverage to include some close-ended funds and infrastructure. Dexion managing director Ana Haurie [...]
Alcoa loses on slumping metal prices January 9, 2012 FALLING metals prices and a weak global economy pushed Alcoa into a fourth quarter loss, the USA’s largest aluminium producer revealed yesterday. Kicking off 2012’s corporate earnings reports in the States, the firm lost $193m (£125m), or 18 cents per share, on continuing operations. Nonetheless, the firm remains upbeat with forecasts of soaring demand over [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD SHAREHOLDERS HAVE MORE SAY ON EXECUTIVE PAY? January 9, 2012 NEIL NEWTON | BERRYMANS LACE MAWER LLP “Yes, but to a point. Shareholders invest a large amount of money so they deserve power, but it would be hard to implement.” ALI MALAIBARI | BLOOMBERG “Yes, as the level of director pay affects dividends. If executives get paid a lot, it can decrease what the shareholder [...]
CAA calls for more airports January 9, 2012 MORE airport capacity is needed in the south east, according to a report out today from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Unless expansion is allowed, the CAA fears consumers will face higher prices and the choice of destinations will become increasingly limited. The CAA suggests local residents’ concerns over levels of noise pollution caused by [...]
Protesters aim to teach FSA about top pay January 9, 2012 PROTESTERS from Occupy London will today join politicians from across the party divide to give the City regulator a “teach out” on executive pay and bonuses. The group is due to hold the session in the area outside the headquarters of the Financial Services Authority in Canary Wharf this morning, coinciding with the RBS bonus [...]
ECB deposits reach a fresh record high January 9, 2012 BANKS are storing ever more cash in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) deposit facility, which hit another record high yesterday. Banks put away €464bn (£383bn) in the facility, which is regarded as a reasonable indication of their desire to horde cash as it means putting away money above and beyond the amount they must hold in [...]
Higher IMF contribution may prompt defeat in Commons January 9, 2012 PRIME Minister David Cameron would face a humiliating Commons defeat if he tries to boost Britain’s contribution to an IMF bailout fund for the Eurozone, backbench MPs expect. Chancellor George Osborne told parliament in October that the UK “will not be putting money into the bailout fund either directly or through the IMF” – yet [...]
Hungary starting bailout talks in attempt to soothe market worry January 9, 2012 TALKS between Hungary and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) began in Washington yesterday, according to Hungary’s economy ministry. The country hopes that a credit line from the IMF will not need to be called upon but will be seen by investors as a safety net preventing the country from defaulting on its debts. Yields on [...]