British Bankers’ Association names new chief executive June 12, 2012 The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) announced today that Anthony Browne, a Morgan Stanley banker and former advisor to London mayor Boris Johnson, will take over as its new chief executive in September. The organisation lobbies on behalf of the industry and also appears in the media to represent the financial services industry. Browne takes over [...]
FTSE flat as investors ponder aftermath of bailout June 12, 2012 London stocks remained flat this morning as investors took time to consider their positions in the aftermath of volatile trading on Monday. With few major firms announcing results the focus remained on the Eurozone, where the weekend’s bailout of Spanish banks appears to have done little to calm markets. Focus will now shift to Greece, [...]
GSK to buy Basilea eczema drug for £146m June 12, 2012 GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it is to buy Basilea’s new eczema drug Toctino for an initial £146m to boost its Stiefel dermatology business. The Swiss biotech company is also entitled to further payments of up to £50m if the drug is approved in the United States, as well as double-digit percentage payments on US sales [...]
British house prices fall at slower rate in May June 12, 2012 British house prices fell at a slower pace in May, although the outlook worsened as the Eurozone crisis intensified according to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The seasonally adjusted house price balance rose to -16 from -19 in April, beating economists’ forecasts for a -18 reading. London was again the only [...]
Spanish bailout bombs June 11, 2012 SPAIN’S bank bailout comprehensively failed to gain market support yesterday, as investors realised the deal had done little to solve the underlying problems facing the Eurozone’s inefficient economies. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy claimed on Sunday the €100bn (£80.6bn) plan to recapitalise his country’s devastated banks had “resolved” much of the cause of the crisis. But [...]
EU has contingency plans for Greece currency exit June 11, 2012 EUROPEAN finance officials have discussed limiting the size of withdrawals from ATM machines, imposing border checks and introducing Eurozone capital controls as a worst-case scenario should Athens decide to leave the euro. EU officials have said the ideas are part of a range of contingency plans. They emphasised that the discussions were merely about being [...]
Euro establishment isn’t learning any lessons from the crisis June 11, 2012 IT seems that €100bn no longer buys very much these days. Yesterday’s post-bailout rally fizzled out almost as soon as the markets opened, as traders’ innate over-exuberance soon turned into jaded realism. Spain and the Eurozone are still in deep trouble; these days, you can only fool the markets for a few hours. There are [...]
Cyprus says it is heading toward its own bailout June 11, 2012 CYPRUS may become the fifth Eurozone government to be bailed out because its banks are too heavily exposed to the devastated Greek economy, its finance minister warned yesterday. “The issue is urgent. We know the recapitalisation of the banks must be completed by 30 June, and there are a few days left,” said finance minister [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 11, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Google deal with French publishers Google hailed what it called a “pioneering” agreement in France yesterday over digitising out-of-print books, ending six years of litigation between the US search company and French publishers. The two sides said they had agreed a “framework agreement” under which French publishers can strike their own commercial arrangements [...]
Santander is downgraded June 11, 2012 THE PRICE of oil tumbled three per cent yesterday, with US crude at its lowest for the year, thanks to fears that the Eurozone debt crisis will engulf more countries and threaten petroleum demand. Also pressuring prices, top exporter Saudi Arabia said Opec may need to raise oil output targets at its Thursday meeting in [...]
