Buyout firms circle Citi’s $1bn Tokyo call centre September 1, 2009 SEVERAL private equity firms are circling Citigroup after it announced its intention to sell off a Japanese call centre. Major buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Permira, Blackstone and Bain Capital are all understood to be interested in buying the centre, which is valued at up to $1bn (£620m). Sources familiar with the situation said [...]
Stanford forces Antigua change September 1, 2009 Antigua and Barbuda has appointed an experienced banker to head the tiny Caribbean nation’s financial regulatory body, replacing Leroy King, who is under house arrest facing US charges of abetting accused swindler Allen Stanford. A government statement said John Benjamin, a banker with more than 40 years of experience, will become administrator and chief executive [...]
Offshore private banking dead September 1, 2009 A US tax probe against Swiss bank UBS has killed traditional offshore banking, meaning wealth managers will have to improve their offers to survive, bankers and industry experts said yesterday. Pierre de Weck, head of private wealth management at Deutsche Bank, said “the consequences of the crisis at UBS have been dramatic”. Another expert said [...]
UScredit card satisfaction dives September 1, 2009 US consumer satisfaction with credit cards plummeted in 2009, driven by anger due to fees and higher interest rates, according to a J.D. Power and Associates poll released yesterday. The poll showed around 20 per cent of customers reported an increase in their interest rates since 2008, with the largest decline in satisfaction among revolvers, [...]
Property still too dear, says JPMorgan September 1, 2009 HOPES of an imminent recovery in the commercial property market were dampened yesterday after JP Morgan forecast further troubles for the sector. The bank slammed the recent property stock rally as mere “castles made of sand” and said the upturn was just “building a highly vulnerable property market with a small margin for error.” Commercial [...]
China Shenhua Energy pumps $40bn into coal investment in race to the top September 1, 2009 CHINA Shenhua Energy, the world’s most valuable coal producer, plans to invest $39.5bn (£24.4bn) through 2013 to expand production capacity as it races to supply the world’s top coal consumer. Shenhua, which also has power, rail and port divisions, will earmark about 30-50 per cent of the total investment for capital expenditure, Chairman Zhang Xiwu [...]
Over 5,000 retailers to fail September 1, 2009 OVER 5,000 retailers are set to go out of business next year in further evidence of the embattled state of the high street. The retail sector has already suffered from a steep decline in consumer confidence and rising unemployment is set to batter the industry further, according to figures out yesterday by accountants and business [...]
Porsche worker targeted in VW share investigation September 1, 2009 GERMAN prosecutors have raided the apartment of another Porsche employee as part of a probe into the alleged market manipulation of Volkswagen shares A Porsche spokesman confirmed that another apartment had been searched last Friday. The apartment of an employee who is not at management board level was searched, two people familiar with the investigation [...]
SOC GEN ROGUE TRADER TRIAL STALLED September 1, 2009 THE PLANNED trial of French former trader Jerome Kerviel, blamed for huge losses at Societe Generale, has been blocked pending a procedural appeal, his lawyer Olivier Metzner said yesterday. Kerviel, 32, has been under investigation since SocGen in January 2008 unveiled €4.9bn (£4.3bn) in losses which it said were caused by unauthorised deals carried out [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL THE RUNAWAY FTSE?100 SUSTAIN ITS GROWTH TO TOP 5,000 POINTS? September 1, 2009 CHRIS METHERELL BBVA“I think we are in for a period of consolidation, with markets staying at more or less the levels they are at now. They should stay there for an extended few weeks, and then rise more gradually as the economic environment improves. There will be no other upward bursts over the next few [...]
