Oligarch leader of BP’s Russian venture quits May 28, 2012 THE BILLIONAIRE head of BP’s partner in Russia resigned yesterday, putting the oil giant’s relationship with TNK-BP under further strain. Mikhail Fridman, the chief executive of TNK-BP and a key investor, will stand down at the end of June for personal reasons, the firm said. But sources close to Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the group of oligarchs [...]
Diamond slams government for breaking taxpayer confidentiality May 28, 2012 BARCLAYS chief executive Bob Diamond has slammed the government for hitting the bank with a huge retrospective tax bill earlier this year and for damaging its reputation by “effectively naming” Barclays as the culprit in a tax avoidance scheme. In a letter to Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury Select Committee of MPs, Diamond complains [...]
Spain’s unusual Bankia bailout spooks markets May 28, 2012 SHARES in bust lender Bankia plunged 13.4 per cent yesterday after details emerged of a controversial bailout plan that will see the Spanish government take a 90 per cent ownership stake in the bank. Analysts estimated that the number of Bankia shares in existence could rise by a factor of six to nine due to [...]
Bankia’s unusual bailout May 28, 2012 Q How will this bailout work? A It is not entirely clear, but Madrid is considering a plan where, instead of buying a 90 per cent stake in Bankia for cash, the Spanish government will hand over billions of its bonds instead. Q How will that help when Bankia needs cash? A That’s where the [...]
Greek banks get €18bn rescue May 28, 2012 FOUR Greek banks have received €18bn (£14.4bn) in a bid to recapitalise the stricken sector. The funds will be divided between National Bank, Alpha, Eurobank and Piraeus Bank. The money has been released by the European Financial Stability Fund to the Greek body in charge of distributing the funds. It is part of Greece’s second bailout [...]
Madrid hopes the ECB will play along in its backdoor bailout May 28, 2012 WE LEARNED on Friday that the bailout for Bankia and its parent BFA is to be about four times the size analysts were estimating just a few weeks ago, at €19bn. In a sense, that is good news. It shows the bank and the government are facing up to the scale of the problem. Whether they [...]
IAG stocks nosedive as major Spanish investor looks to sell May 28, 2012 SHARES in British Airways parent company International Airlines Group nosedived 2.7 per cent yesterday on news its largest shareholder Bankia would need to dispose of assets to raise cash. The troubled Spanish bank has a 12 per cent stake in IAG following the bailout of Caja Madrid, which was a major stakeholder in Iberia before [...]
Pension funds flee risky euro equity markets May 28, 2012 THE EUROZONE crisis has forced pension funds out of risky equity markets, an industry study showed yesterday, but the funds are also trying to avoid safe haven bonds because of the low yields on offer. Funds are being pushed towards alternative assets and emerging markets, according to Mercer’s asset allocation survey, as they try to [...]
Italian business confidence down on sustained recession May 28, 2012 ITALIAN business confidence plummeted to a near three-year low in May, official data showed yesterday, as the country continued to struggle through recession, reforms and spending cuts. Istat’s manufacturing confidence index dropped from 89.1 in April to 86.2 in May, its lowest since August 2009. Employment expectations worsened further, from minus 13 to minus 19, [...]
Ireland likely to vote yes to fiscal compact May 28, 2012 IRISH voters are set to approve the Eurozone’s fiscal compact in Thursday’s referendum, according to a range of opinion polls, although other European leaders are already pushing to change the treaty. The compact, which seeks to impose limits on government budget deficits to reassure markets and prevent a re-run of the current sovereign debt crisis, [...]
