Madoff team calls for mercy June 23, 2009 LAWYERS for Bernard Madoff, who has admitted running a giant $65bn (£40bn) “Ponzi” scheme, have pleaded for leniency from the New York judge who is preparing to sentence the financier at a hearing next week. Amid calls from victims for the fraudster to die of old age in prison, his lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin said [...]
Founder heads Libertas management buy-out June 23, 2009 THE corporate finance division of small to mid cap financial services group Libertas Capital has been rescued out of administration by a management buy-out team led by the firm’s founder Jakob Kinde. The buy-out team is thought to have offered just over £1m for the division, including a down payment and a pledge to return [...]
Peugeot says it will post a big 2009 loss June 23, 2009 PEUGEOT Citroen said it expected to lose as much as €2bn (£1.7bn) in 2009 as it launched a convertible bond to raise €575m yesterday – but its European sales will fall less sharply than feared. Peugeot Citroen said that while the European car market was still down compared with 2008, the company’s “best current estimate” [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 23, 2009 AVIVACitigroup analysts said they no longer view Aviva as vulnerable from a capital perspective, after its hybrid debt issue and the disposal of Aviva Australia. Based on its standard return on embedded value approach, the broker upped its target price to 350p from 210p and raised its recommendation to “hold, high risk”. STANDARD CHARTEREDAhead of [...]
Hansteen to raise 195m to invest in bargain British commercial properties June 23, 2009 EUROPEAN property investment firm Hansteen yesterday tapped the market for £194.6m to fund a re-entry into the UK market and take advantage of bargain commercial property investments in the recession. Hansteen’s placing of 267.8m shares at 75p a share, fully underwritten by broker KBC Peel Hunt, is the largest secondary fundraising on the Aim market [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 23, 2009 AvivaMatt Saker is to join the savings, investment and insurance group as its new chief actuary for Europe. Saker joins from Watson Wyatt, where he worked for over 18 years, becoming a partner in 2003. In his new role, he will be responsible for capital management, life and general insurance reserving and market-consistent embedded value [...]
IDEALISM ISN’T LOST ON CITY ART CROWD June 23, 2009 IF THERE are any City types out there itching to use the dwindling financial job prospects as a catalyst for a change of career, they could do worse than to heed the advice of Thomas Ostenberg. Just before the recession of the early Nineties, Ostenberg decided to leave his career as an independent financial consultant, [...]
STAVELEY SNUBBED June 23, 2009 BLACKROCK rejected backing worth $2.8bn (£1.7bn) from Middle Eastern power broker Amanda Staveley to help it purchase Barclays Global Investors (BGI). A source close to the deal confirmed she had offered the sum but said BlackRock rejected it due to a lack of detail about the identity of her Gulf backers.
BSkyB ordered to pay out legal costs June 23, 2009 THE Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ordered BSkyB to pay the government and Competition Commission’s legal costs associated with the broadcaster’s appeal to keep its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV. BSkyB is fighting an ongoing battle to retain the stake, which it bought for £940m in 2006. The deal blocked a potential takeover of [...]
Banks launch overdraft bid in the Lords June 23, 2009 A LEGAL case to determine whether banking overdraft fees can be challenged on grounds of fairness kicked off in the House of Lords yesterday, with seven banks and one building society fighting to overturn an earlier ruling against them. The lenders are contesting a judgement by the Court of Appeal that charges imposed by the [...]
