BBVA ups stake in China November 22, 2009 SPANISH bank BBVA is looking to plough a further €1.1bn (£991,000) into China’s Citic Bank, increasing its reputation for Chinese invesment. The bank, which would lift its stake from 10 to 15 per cent, is bucking the trend of Western banks such as UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland, who have been pulling out of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 22, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphWOMEN DIRECTORS EARN 50PC LESS THAN MENFemale board directors in the FTSE 350 are being paid half as much as their male counterparts, new research has found. The average female board director took home £178,246 in salary, bonuses, benefits and pension contributions in the 2008-09 financial year, while the average male director [...]
Gatwick owners eye astronaut November 22, 2009 The new owners of Gatwick have gone galactic in their search for a new board for the London airport. It is expected that James van Hoften, a former astronaut who now runs the airports arm of American engineering giant Bechtel, will be hired. Global Infrastructure Partners, the GE-Credit Suisse joint venture that snapped up Gatwick [...]
Rockspring buys up RBS assets November 22, 2009 Property fund manager Rockspring is set to buy a portfolio of UK industrial properties from taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, in one of the first deals which will take distressed assets from a UK lender. A host of property companies are talking to UK banks to try to either buy or form joint ventures for [...]
Lloyds set for deep discount in cash call… November 22, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group is tomorrow set to announce that its record-breaking £13.5bn rights issue will be priced at a deep discount of around 60 per cent, ahead of a meeting later this week to seek approval for the fundraising from its shareholders. Lloyds, which is 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer, plans to raise [...]
..as it holds talks on tie-up with broker Execution November 22, 2009 STOCKBROKER Execution is in talks with Lloyds Banking Group about a deal which could create a joint venture between the two parties, it emerged last night. Meetings between Lloyds, which already holds a small stake in the broker, and Execution, are at an early stage, but executives at the latter group were in discussion last [...]
End is nigh for free banking as OFT ruling looms November 22, 2009 THE UK faces an end to free banking this week, as the Supreme Court makes its final ruling over whether customers have been unfairly charged on their overdrafts. The government has piled the pressure on banks to settle the matter quickly rather than appeal, and millions of customers could be eligible for a payout after [...]
Investors told to query pay November 22, 2009 CITY grandee Sir David Walker will this week echo calls from City minister Lord Myners for institutional investors to wrest some vestige of power back from the government and regulators by clamping down on wayward bank remuneration policies. The recommendation is expected to be added to Walker’s final report on corporate governance at UK banks [...]
Banks to vote on abolishing payment by cheque by 2018 November 22, 2009 BANKS are drawing up plans to abolish cheques and instead demand payment by plastic or electronic transfer. If the proposals are approved, cheques could disappear from as early as 2018. The Payments Council, a panel drawn from the major banks, will vote on December 16 on whether to stop accepting the 300-year-old method of payment. [...]
Water groups warn the regulator on price limits November 22, 2009 WATER companies are set to cut dividend payments and thousands of jobs if Ofwat goes ahead with planned price restrictions this Thursday, they warned yesterday. Regina Finn, chief executive of Ofwat, has come under political pressure to keep prices down for customers but equally this weekend there were signs there could be some sort of [...]
