Oil tumbles on downturn fear 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 [...]
Big four auditor to head up new City regulator June 11, 2012 THE OUTGOING chairman of professional services firm KPMG was yesterday named as the first chairman of one of the new City watchdogs. John Griffith-Jones will head up the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – one of two new regulatory bodies that will be created when the Financial Services Authority is replaced early next year. Ahead of the switchover, Griffith-Jones [...]
Apple ousts Google from maps app as it unveils new platform June 11, 2012 APPLE yesterday opened up a new front in its competition with Google as the Silicon Valley giant unveiled it would ditch Google Maps from its iPads and iPhones this autumn, as it also confirmed closer ties with Facebook. Speaking at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), chief executive Tim Cook and Scott Forstall, Apple’s head of [...]
PROFILE: JOHN GRIFFITH-JONES June 11, 2012 KPMG veteran John Griffith-Jones is leaving behind a career spent at the big four auditor to make a sideways leap into regulation – where he could end up supervising many of the financial clients he has worked with during his 38 years at the firm. Griffith-Jones, who has twice sat on the judging panel for [...]
Eurozone set to stay weak all year, says OECD June 11, 2012 THE EUROZONE economy took a fresh beating yesterday, with Italy confirming a sharp fall in GDP in the first quarter and the OECD’s leading indicators pointing to low growth persisting for the rest of the year. However official data in France showed a surprise rise in industrial production in April, defying expectations of another monthly [...]
Solvency fears for EU insurers June 11, 2012 EUROPEAN regulators warned yesterday that insurers’ solvency is deteriorating because of persistently low interest rates and market turmoil triggered by the Eurozone debt crisis. Europe’s top 20 insurers are in good overall financial health with average capital reserves at 200 per cent of the required minimum, but their solvency ratios have “started slightly to decrease,” [...]
Basel confused by directives June 11, 2012 SOME countries are falling behind in the implementation of the Basel III rules designed to strengthen the banking system, the Basel Committee warned yesterday. The report said it is proving difficult to monitor EU implementation because of the wide range of draft directives that have been published, and that the EU must ensure proposed capital [...]
Posen: After ECB’s failure, the Bank of England should purchase corporate debt and defend QE June 11, 2012 BANK of England official Adam Posen yesterday said that he was “disappointed” by the weak impact of the €1 trillion (£808bn) the European Central Bank (ECB) pumped into banks late last year, and argued that the time has come for the Bank of England to buy up corporate debt. The ECB had hoped to stop [...]
MERKEL BACKS FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS TAX June 11, 2012 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday reassured opposition parties that she does want an EU-wide financial transactions tax. She needs their support to implement her favoured Eurozone fiscal compact, which they will only give if she supports the tax.
World’s airlines are poles apart as turbulence hits the Eurozone June 11, 2012 AIRLINES around the world are braced for the Eurozone’s turmoil to threaten profits and even claim the scalp of some firms. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) left this year’s global airline profit forecast unchanged at $3bn (£1.93bn), or 0.5 per cent of industry revenues. But this stable outlook fails to show the widening gulf [...]
