GROUNDHOG DAY AT CENTRAL BANKS July 5, 2012 CENTRAL banks desperately tried to push the world economy out of its downward spiral yesterday, with the Bank of England turning on the printing presses yet again, and the European Central Bank (ECB) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) cutting interest rates further. Denmark’s central bank even cut one key interest rate to minus [...]
Lasers and light show as Shard is opened July 5, 2012 CROWDS gathered across London last night to get a peek of a lit-up shard, to celebrate the official inauguration of Europe’s tallest building. The developer behind the Shard described the tower as a compass “pointing towards a new financial era” as he opened the 1,016ft-tall skyscraper. Irvine Sellar, whose firm Sellar Property Group built the [...]
Aviva trashes Moss as it sells off weak businesses July 5, 2012 INSURANCE giant Aviva yesterday unveiled radical plans to dispose of a quarter of its business units in a damning indictment of the strategy pursued by former chief executive Andrew Moss. Aviva said it will sell or close down 16 underperforming divisions, including its South Korean business and several of its Italian partnerships. Although it declined [...]
Why QE is not the answer to Britain’s economic problems July 5, 2012 IVAN PAVLOV, the psychologist who famously trained his dogs to respond to stimuli, would have been proud. Whenever the economy grinds to a halt, regardless of reason, well-conditioned policymakers from Beijing to Frankfurt always respond in the same way: they cut interest rates and wheel out the printing presses. It is the new orthodoxy: ever [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 5, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Metro losses widen in first full year Metro Bank, which launched in 2010 with the aim of providing a customer-friendly banking expeirence, increased its losses by 40 per cent to £33.1m for the last year. The bank has spent about £2m on each of its 12 branches – double the cost of a [...]
Bootle’s team wins £250,000 for Grexit plan July 5, 2012 ROGER BOOTLE and his Capital Economics team won the world’s second biggest economics prize yesterday, giving a guide to an ailing Eurozone nation considering exit. He and his team pocketed £250,000, after coming top of a field of 422 submissions, including one from an eleven-year-old schoolboy from the Netherlands. Bootle described his scheme as, “detailed [...]
Linklaters and Freshfields hit by weak market July 5, 2012 LAW firms Freshfields and Linklaters will fail to set the City on fire this morning as they release their full-year results, with both firms’ performances subdued in relation to their competitors. Revenues at Linklaters nudged up by 0.6 per cent year on year to £1.2bn, while pre-tax profits rose by 1.2 per cent to £520.8m. [...]
Parliament to hold inquiry into Libor rate July 5, 2012 PARLIAMENT will hold its own investigation into rigging of the Libor interest rate after Labour MPs failed to force a public inquiry into the scandal yesterday. Following a bruising debate between chancellor George Osborne and Ed Balls, his opposite number, the government pushed through a motion that will set up a parliamentary inquiry led by [...]
Credit rating agencies turn up heat on Barclays July 5, 2012 MAJOR global banks face taking a hit from tighter regulation as a result of the Libor scandal, ratings agency Fitch warned yesterday, as well as reputation damage if any follow Barclays into the firing line. The grim announcement came after Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s both put Barclays’ rating on negative outlook thanks to the [...]
Takeover Panel eyes pensions July 5, 2012 THE TAKEOVER Panel yesterday proposed a series of rule changes aimed at protecting pension funds in bid situations. The proposals, which are open for consultation until the end of September, would force a potential bidder for a company to publicly state what it would do with the pension scheme if it wins control. The new [...]
