Arctic activists stop Cairn drill June 5, 2011 OIL explorer Cairn Energy was forced to stop drilling at one of its Greenland wells over the weekend after environmental activists boarded the rig, breaching an exclusion zone. Greenpeace said 18 of its protestors were arrested after storming the Leiv Eiriksson rig on Saturday in a bid to highlight safety and environmental concerns about drilling [...]
Sainsbury’s car insurance tie-up June 5, 2011 SAINSBURY’S Finance is planning to launch a new reward scheme for shoppers, aimed at tapping the car insurance market. The scheme, underwritten by RBS Insurance, will see Sainsbury’s Nectar card users receive a discount of up to 15 per cent on car insurance premiums. Shoppers will also get double loyalty points on purchases in-store for [...]
Foreign states owe UK £2.3bn June 5, 2011 THE UK government is owed more than £2.3bn by foreign states, including a number of the most undemocratic and despotic regimes in the world. Some of the largest debts to Whitehall’s Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) are owed by Zimbabwe (£190m) and Sudan (£664m). The list of debts owed to the ECGD by 25 foreign [...]
City: rates must rise in Autumn at latest June 5, 2011 VOICE OF THE CITY THE Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) should raise interest rates by early autumn at the latest, according to members of the City A.M./PoliticsHome Voice of the City panel. Fifty-three per cent of panellists said the MPC should hike rates by September at the latest. Over a third (34 per [...]
Why critics of ETFs should be ignored June 5, 2011 IN the UK, like in many other countries, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are increasingly becoming a threat to old-school fund managers. ETFs, for those not yet familiar with the product, are investment funds that are traded on stock markets – like ordinary shares. But perhaps because of their growing popularity with investors, who enjoy their [...]
Nintendo says it was hacked but users safe June 5, 2011 NINTENDO has revealed it is the latest victim of online hackers after a security breach at a US data centre. The Japanese firm said it had experienced a “possible hacking attack” but said no customer or company information was accessed. Nintendo will be desperate to ensure it is not drawn into a crisis like the [...]
Opec may finally turn the production tap on June 5, 2011 IF you aren’t following the oil story, maybe you should be. I mean, sure, you probably know that oil prices are higher, and that you’re paying more at the pumps, but the importance of this Thursday’s meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) can’t be understated. Usually, a bunch of oil ministers [...]
Tony Hayward’s latest project Vallares set for a summer IPO June 5, 2011 FORMER BP chief executive Tony Hayward’s latest project, an oil acquisition vehicle set up with Nathaniel Rothschild, is due to unveil its intention to float as soon as this week. The project, known as Vallares, is in early talks with investors to raise around £1bn to buy up oil assets, and is thought to be [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 5, 2011 Merchant Securities Lindsey Hamilton, formerly head of wealth management at WH Ireland Group, has been appointed as sales director of Merchant Securities Wealth Management. In addition, Chris Theis will join Merchant Securities Limited in August as head of institutional sales and research, moving from Daniel Stewart & Co. AXA Real Estate The real estate manager [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 5, 2011 AXA Goldman Sachs rates the firm “neutral” and has raised its target price by €0.50 to €16.50 (£14.70). The broker expects the bulk of capital generated over the 2011 to 2015 period to be used shoring up its balance sheet. INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS Deutsche Bank rates the hotels group a “hold” and has raised its target [...]