SMALL PEOPLE June 17, 2010 As the dust settles on the storm caused by BP’s media-shy chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and his comments about the “small people” of the Gulf of Mexico, those wanting to cut Svanberg some slack having been attempting to figure out exactly what he meant. No doubt that Svanberg’s choice of words, whether intentional or not, has [...]
SMALL PEOPLE June 17, 2010 As the dust settles on the storm caused by BP’s media-shy chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and his comments about the “small people” of the Gulf of Mexico, those wanting to cut Svanberg some slack having been attempting to figure out exactly what he meant. No doubt that Svanberg’s choice of words, whether intentional or not, has [...]
Chairman’s Thai hol during leak revealed June 17, 2010 TEMPERS FLARED yesterday as it was revealed that BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg was holidaying in Thailand for a lengthy period after the 20 April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. It is understood that Svanberg was yachting in South East Asia at the time, while his colleagues were scrambling to understand how to plug up [...]
StanChart set to be investor in AgBank IPO June 17, 2010 AGRICULTURAL Bank (AgBank) of China, gearing up for a likely record $23bn (£15.5bn) IPO, looks set to tap Britain’s Standard Chartered as a cornerstone investor. AgBank signed a strategic deal with emerging markets-focused Standard Chartered yesterday to collaborate on banking products and services, both in China and internationally. “It’s very likely StanChart will take a [...]
BofA Edges ahead with online broker June 17, 2010 BANK of America Merrill Lynch is set to launch an online discount brokerage service aimed at smaller investors next week, the banking group announced yesterday. Merrill Edge will be aimed at clients with $250,000 (£168,751) or less to invest, placing the service in direct competition with other online discount brokers like Charles Schwab, Ameritrade and [...]
Standard Chartered June 17, 2010 STRATEGIC tie-ups rarely add up to much unless both players are willing to put money where their mouth is. That’s why Standard Chartered is almost certainly going to become a cornerstone investor in AgBank when it launches its likely record-breaking IPO. This is about much more than shaking hands. StanChart’s reasons are well-known. This year, [...]
Network Rail boss resigns June 17, 2010 IAIN COUCHER, the Network Rail chief executive, sent shockwaves through the rail industry yesterday after announcing his resignation. City A.M. understands that new transport secretary Philip Hammond and the Department for Transport (DfT) was unhappy with Network Rail’s performance. A report by Sir Roy McNulty, who is chairing a review of the previous government, found [...]
Stagecoach wins its subsidy dispute against government June 17, 2010 TRANSPORT group Stagecoach has said it expects its South Western Trains division to be profitable this year after it gained a partial victory in its subsidy dispute with the government. The dispute centred around the timing of government subsidies the group receives, but a rail arbitrator agreed with Stagecoach saying these should be for the [...]
Tories call for driverless trains on the London Underground June 17, 2010 LONDON’S underground trains could run without drivers in the future if the government meets demands made by the Conservative Group of the London Assembly to replace the current “third rate” trains. The group argued in a report to the Mayor that driverless trains would offer safer and more efficient levels of service and would put [...]
Spain covers €3.5bn bonds at high price June 17, 2010 MARKETS breathed a sigh of relief after Spain’s €3.5bn (£2.9bn) debt auction was almost twice oversubscribed yesterday, although Madrid was forced to pay a steep premium. The heavily indebted country was forced to pay investors 4.9 per cent interest on €3bn of shorter-dated bonds, double the rate it paid in May, and 5.9 per cent [...]