China’s banks to raise funds November 24, 2009 CHINA’S largest listed 11 banks are seeking to raise tens of billions of dollars in extra capital in order to satisfy regulators. The banks have expanded levels of lending to record levels and must now find at least Rmb300bn (£26bn) ($43bn) in new capital. The banking regulator has warned that it will refuse approvals for [...]
Lehman administrator set to give creditors $11bn in assets November 24, 2009 LEHMAN Brothers’ administrator has issued a proposal to return $11bn (£6.6bn) in assets to creditors. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – administrator for Lehman Brothers International Europe – made the move after an earlier plan was rejected by a London court. The assets would be returned to creditors in the company’s international arm rather than its US operation, [...]
BBC: No Worldwide float November 24, 2009 THE BBC last night moved to deny claims that it was planning to sell off its controversial commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Worldwide is under the spotlight amid accusations that it is using its financial clout to give it an unfair advantage over rivals. And the BBC’s own Trust ordered it to be reined in, in [...]
USFed raises outlook for 2009 growth November 24, 2009 AMERICA’S Federal Reserve upped its forecast for economic growth next year to a range of 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent as official statistics revealed the world’s biggest economy grew by less than originally thought in the third quarter. The US economy grew by 2.8 per cent between July and September, well below the [...]
Royal Dutch Shell looks for $4bn yearly boost from new projects November 24, 2009 ROYAL Dutch Shell’s two massive natural-gas projects in Qatar will increase the company’s cash flow by $4bn (£2.6bn) a year when they start up in 2011, according to chief executive Peter Voser. Voser said the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant and Qatargas 4 – a liquefied-natural-gas development – would deliver 350,000 barrels a day of oil. That [...]
Ashley hires new chair to Sports Direct November 24, 2009 SPORTSWEAR retailer Sports Direct, has ended its two-and-a-half year search for a permanent chairman, by appointing Keith Hellawell, the government’s former drugs tsar. The position has been vacant since David Richardson quit the post in May 2007, having decided he could not work with billionaire Mike Ashley, who owns 71 per cent of the group. [...]
Nomura fined 1.75m by the FSA for serious mis-marking November 24, 2009 NOMURA has been fined £1.75m by the Financial Services Authority for “widespread systems and control failings” at its international equities division. The problem came to light in June 2008 when a London trader noticed a Hong Kong trader had mis-marked his derivatives book. The Hong Kong trader, who was suspended last year pending an investigation, [...]
Talk of Facebook listing after the firm adopts dual stock structure November 24, 2009 FACEBOOK has introduced a dual-class stock structure to let existing shareholders maintain voting control. The decision has been interpreted by some analysts as a signal that the company is planning to go public, a claim denied by the social networking site’s chiefs last night. Facebook said: “We did introduce a dual-class stock structure because existing [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 24, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESRECOVERY TREND AT ICGIntermediate Capital Group, one of Europe’s largest mezzanine lenders, inched back into profit in spite of further provisions on loans to struggling companies, such as Gala Coral, the betting group. The financial crisis has taken its toll on ICG. The London-listed company was forced to repair its overstretched balance sheet by [...]
BRAZIL MULLED CITIGROUP STAKE November 24, 2009 Citigroup offered a stake in the bank to the Brazilian government early this year when it was seeking capital to survive the financial crisis, Brazilian energy minister Edison Lobao said yesterday. The Brazilian government passed on the offer, as it felt that the economy needed to recover from the crisis first, Lobao told an investor [...]
