Firms fear red tape and euro January 4, 2012 THE EUROZONE crisis is the most important issue facing the UK economy, but the government should do more to support the financial services industry and slash the red tape damaging any hopes of recovery, top London businesses told Ipsos Mori’s Captains of Industry survey. The level of regulation on UK businesses is harming the economy [...]
European banks face next big hurdle January 4, 2012 THIS is the deal of all deals, one of the many bankers working on the £6.2bn cash call at Italy’s largest bank UniCredit said to me yesterday. As far as those in the capital markets are concerned, the new year festivities are well and truly over. The forthcoming blockbuster fund-raising exercise for UniCredit provides the [...]
Jail for Lawrence’s killers January 4, 2012 TWO of the racist killers of Stephen Lawrence were yesterday jailed for nearly 30 years in total as London’s top policeman warned the other suspects not to “rest easily in their beds”. Judge Colman Treacy, who sentenced the pair to life at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, ruled Gary Dobson should serve a minimum of 15 years [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 4, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SPANISH BANKS FACE EXTRA HIT OF €50BN Spain says it expects its banks to set aside up to €50bn in further provisions on their bad property assets as part of a new round of reforms for the country’s financial sector. Luis de Guindos, economy minister in the centre-right government that took office two [...]
Lloyds raises £1.25bn in bonds January 4, 2012 Lloyds TSB took advantage of a degree of market optimism to raise around six per cent of the group’s 2012 funding needs yesterday. It sold €1.35bn (£1bn) in covered bonds, of an annual target of £15-20bn for Lloyds Banking Group. The bank will pay a 3.5 per cent yield on the five-year bonds, which are [...]
New York snaps up NotW editor January 4, 2012 Colin Myler, who edited the News of the World from 2007 until its closure in July, has been appointed editor-in-chief of The New York Daily News. Previously managing editor of Daily News’ rival paper, the Murdoch-owned New York Post, Myler will take over from current editor Kevin Convey on Tuesday. Myler’s once close relationship with [...]
Yahoo nabs a leader from eBay’s PayPal January 4, 2012 YAHOO has named PayPal’s Scott Thompson its fourth chief executive in less than five years, concluding a four month search for a new leader after Carol Bartz was ousted in September. Thompson, who will also become a director, will on Monday take the helm from Tim Morse, Yahoo’s chief financial officer, who has been manning [...]
Bankruptcy looms for Kodak January 4, 2012 KODAK shares plummeted to an all-time low as reports claimed that the camera company could be close to filing for bankruptcy. If Kodak fails to sell the 1,100 digital patents it has been trying to offload since last summer, the company’s next move would be to seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors and sell these [...]
French: Tobin tax to be in place by end of this year January 4, 2012 A TOBIN tax will be in place by the end of the year regardless of staunch UK opposition, the French minister for Europe has declared. Jean Leonetti said it is “on the programme” for the next EU summit at the end of January and “will be put in place before the end of 2012”, raising [...]
UniCredit is suspended January 4, 2012 UNICREDIT shares had to be suspended yesterday as it revealed it has been forced to heavily discount its rights issues after current shareholders said they would sign up to buy just 14 per cent of the new equity. The bank’s stock plunged over ten per cent in less than half an hour yesterday, with its [...]