Strong pound could threaten UK’s recovery April 23, 2012 THE POUND hit a 20-month high against the euro yesterday as nervous investors fled political uncertainty to put cash in the UK. The euro fell 0.6 per cent in the day against the pound to 89.49p, its lowest since August 2010. Expectations that quantitative easing is coming to an end has also helped push up [...]
Hermes flies in face of Deutsche April 23, 2012 ● Activist UK fund manager Hermes has urged Deutsche Bank’s shareholders not to approve the supervisory board’s performance at next month’s meeting. A source close to the issue told City A.M. that Hermes Equity Ownership Services, the investment advisory division of the multi-boutique asset manager, has filed a counter proposal against the motion of approval. The [...]
S&P lowers Argentina outlook April 23, 2012 ● Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook for Argentina’s sovereign debt rating last night in response to the country’s renationalisation plans. S&P said the South American nation’s “abrupt” seizure of oil group YPF underscores “the weakening system of checks and balances” in its government. The agency now has a negative outlook on Argentina’s highly [...]
Ex-Iceland PM convicted for his role in crisis April 23, 2012 FORMER Iceland Prime Minister Geir Haarde, the only politician to have been tried over the global financial crisis, was yesterday found guilty of only the most minor of four charges of negligence. The 61-year-old was convicted of failing to hold dedicated cabinet meetings ahead of the 2008 economic collapse – a charge which does not [...]
Facebook unveils Nasdaq listing ahead of IPO as revenues slide April 23, 2012 FACEBOOK last night revealed it will list on the tech-favourite Nasdaq stock exchange when it floats next month in the year’s most anticipated IPO. But in the same SEC filing the social network reported its first quarter-on-quarter earnings slide in at least two years as its revenues fell 6.5 per cent and profits dropped 32 per cent [...]
Osborne faces backbenchers’ anger over IMF April 23, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne was accused of “playing with words” yesterday after he informed the House of Commons that Britain will pay out £10bn to beef up the IMF’s resources despite his previous promise that he would not do so. Tory backbenchers repeatedly raised the concern that the IMF will effectively be funding a Eurozone bailout by [...]
Activity drops as euro area’s slump deepens April 23, 2012 JOBS and output are falling across the Eurozone, survey data showed yesterday, with even the relatively healthy German economy shedding workers. Consumer confidence plummeted to a record low in Italy, France’s business climate deteriorated further and Spain’s central bank announced a further 0.4 per cent fall in GDP in the first quarter, painting a very [...]
Spain looks to a bad bank to clean up sector April 23, 2012 THE SPANISH government will force banks to move all their real estate assets into a special holding company within weeks, in a bid to reassure investors the lenders won’t need a further rescue, it emerged yesterday. The real estate holding entity should be up and running by the summer, but the final form and details [...]
Dutch government falls as row over cuts tears coalition apart April 23, 2012 EUROPE’S debt crisis toppled its latest government yesterday, and another teetered on the brink, as coalitions in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic tore themselves apart in deficit reduction negotiations. The scale of the challenge was further underlined by new EU data which showed a total deficit of 4.1 per cent of GDP for the [...]
French presidential election hits markets as yield spread widens April 23, 2012 NERVOUS investors weighed down on markets yesterday, after socialist Francois Hollande won the first round of voting in the French presidential election. Hollande has been an outspoken critic of austerity measures in the Eurozone and last week tweeted in support of a “fight against finance”. In Paris the CAC 40 index tumbled throughout the day, [...]
