MF Global UK clients set to get back cash this month – KPMG January 5, 2012 THE ADMINISTRATOR of MF Global UK plans to start returning to clients the $1.2bn (£774m) of cash and assets frozen at the collapsed broker as early as this month, in a move that will placate customers ahead of their showdown with KPMG next week. Richard Heis, KPMG’s joint special administrator of MF Global UK, said: [...]
Credit crunch hits British corporates January 5, 2012 WORSENING wholesale funding conditions are having the biggest impact on credit conditions for British companies since the end of 2007, according to the Bank of England’s latest survey of the UK credit landscape. The Bank said that the vast majority of non-financial corporates surveyed blamed tighter wholesale funding conditions for a deterioration in credit availability [...]
France sells €8bn of bonds but investor demand wanes January 5, 2012 FRANCE successfully sold €8bn (£6.6bn) of its debt at a closely-watched auction yesterday, but its borrowing costs edged higher and investor demand for its 10-year debt dropped sharply. France, which has been plagued by fears it could lose its much-coveted triple-A debt rating, sold €4.02bn of 10-year Oat bonds with yields up to 3.29 per [...]
Twin clamp-downs on health and safety culture and tax avoidance January 5, 2012 HEALTH and safety rules are a “monster” which damage the economy and the government must try to “kill off the culture for good”, Prime Minister David Cameron told an audience of small business owners yesterday. Cameron also called for large firms to pay their “fair share” of tax, joining the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg [...]
Tullett cuts 80 brokers amid turmoil January 5, 2012 BROKER Tullett Prebon yesterday tried to reassure investors worried about the effect of global market turmoil on the City by unveiling a series of cuts it carried out late last year. The interdealer broker said last year’s efforts to slash costs – thought to include the loss of about 80 brokers in the US, Asia [...]
ENRC settles Congo dispute January 5, 2012 KAZAKH miner ENRC has agreed a $1.25bn (£800m) settlement with Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to end a long-running dispute over ownership of the Kolwezi project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The London-listed miner said yesterday the deal would enable it to start developing its operations at the copper-cobalt Kolwezi Tailings project. ENRC will pay [...]
Ryanair traffic dips after fuel cost grounds planes January 5, 2012 RYANAIR suffered a five per cent drop in passenger numbers in December compared to last year, after it grounded up to 80 aircraft to offset higher fuel costs. But the low-cost carrier’s annual traffic has risen 5.1 per cent to 76.4m in spite of the bigger-than-usual stoppages. Ryanair’s load factor, a measure of how many [...]
Woodford back in Japan but ex-chief could abandon bid to win back old job January 5, 2012 THE FORMER head of Olympus returned to Japan yesterday where he said he will decide the future of his bid to return to his old post. Michael Woodford (pictured), who was fired as chief executive in October and blew the whistle on a $1.7bn (£1.1bn) accounting scandal, faces long odds in his battle with current [...]
Asian banks fight to buy RBS’s £5bn aviation arm January 5, 2012 CHINA Development Bank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are slugging it out in the final days of an auction for Royal Bank of Scotland’s aircraft leasing business in a deal that could fetch up to $7.5bn (£4.8bn), a source with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday. RBS, 83 per cent-owned by the British [...]
Broker sees trouble ahead as clients stay on the sidelines during Eurosaga January 5, 2012 TULLETT Prebon boss Terry Smith must have seen almost everything in his 35-plus years in the City. Even this veteran must have been surprised, however, by the gloom which gripped the City late last year, perhaps explaining why Tullett cut around 80 brokers in the second half – equivalent to five per cent – and warned of [...]