Lufthansa boss heads for UBS December 7, 2009 UBS yesterday nominated Wolfgang Mayrhuber, the chief executive of airline Deutsche Lufthansa, for election to its board of directors. Sixty-two-year-old Mayrhuber “brings with him strategic as well as operational expertise from his various activities on supervisory boards,” UBS chairman Kaspar Villiger said. UBS will replace Sergio Marchionne and Peter Voser, who say they won’t stand [...]
Skipton sells its majority stake December 7, 2009 Skipton Building Society has sold its majority stake in Callcredit to British-based private equity firm Vitruvian, ending months of speculation over the future of a growing player in the UK credit information market. Callcredit, which competes with US group Equifax and Experian in Britain, was put on the block earlier this year after a strategic [...]
Obama prepares to slash costs of its taxpayer bailout December 7, 2009 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is set to slash the long-term cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) by $200bn (£164bn), and will use the savings to create jobs. The White House will unveil its latest official projection this week, slashing the eventual cost of Tarp to $141bn. It will propose using the extra funds [...]
Citi and US spilt on Tarp December 7, 2009 Citigroup and the US government disagree over how much the bank should raise to repay taxpayers and talks may not finish for weeks or even months, people briefed on the matter said yesterday. The bank and the United States have to resolve questions including how the government would shed its roughly 7.7bn shares in the [...]
FTSEdrops as windfall tax worries offset mining gains December 7, 2009 Britain’s top shares ended 0.2 per cent lower yesterday, with banks weak on concerns over a possible windfall tax, offsetting modest gains in miners and energy stocks which rebounded from earlier losses. The FTSE 100 closed 11.70 points lower at 5,310.66 points, paring some losses from earlier in the session when the index dropped to [...]
WallStreet falls on recovery fears December 7, 2009 The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended slightly lower yesterday and the Dow was flat, reversing earlier gains, after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparked jitters about the economic recovery. Financial and technology shares were among the biggest drags on the market. The S&P lost 1.6 per cent while the KBW Bank Index shed [...]
CITY SLAMS PLANS FOR WINDFALL TAX December 7, 2009 THELABOUR government is facing an increasingly furious City backlash over plans to slap a punishing windfall tax on bank bonuses, with senior figures warning that the policy could prove the last straw for the UK’s ability to retain senior banking talent. Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to unveil the tax bombshell at tomorrow’s Pre-Budget Report [...]
Darling backs hedge funds December 7, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling yesterday vowed to fight EU plans to clamp down on the hedge fund and private equity industries, warning that excessive red tape could push top talent out of Europe. He told an audience of senior figures from the financial industry: “Hedge funds have had a pretty bad press, and they were in [...]
Killing the goose that lays Golden eggs December 7, 2009 HERE are a few facts that Chancellor Alistair Darling should bear in mind as he prepares to hit the financial services industry and high earners with even higher taxes on Wednesday. The top 10 per cent of earners are already set to pay 53.6 per cent of income tax in 2008-09; the top five per [...]
Fed: US economy fragile December 7, 2009 THE US economy is improving but remains extremely fragile, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, he also reiterated the Fed’s stance that the current environment of ultra-low interest rates would persist for “an extended period”. He noted that inflation could remain subdued but that the unemployment rate [...]
