Yahoo is suing Facebook March 12, 2012 YAHOO is suing Facebook over 10 patents that include methods and systems for advertising on the web, opening the first major legal battle among social media’s technology giants. The lawsuit, filed in a San Jose, California federal court yesterday, marks a major escalation of patent litigation that has already swept through the smartphone and tablet [...]
CME loses its chief executive March 12, 2012 Craig Donohue is to step down as chief executive of US futures exchange operator CME Group at the end of the year, handing over the reins to CME’s president Phupinder Gill, the company said yesterday. Chairman Terrence Duffy, who has been the face of the company as it navigates the fallout from the failure last [...]
WTO rules on Boeing subsidies March 12, 2012 The World Trade Organisation said yesterday it had upheld the bulk of a ruling that Boeing received billions of dollars of subsidies to compete with Europe’s Airbus as both sides once again claimed victory in a long-running trade row. The unfair subsidies included at least $2.6bn (£1.7bn) in assistance from space agency NASA, which the [...]
Simon Collins wins vote for KPMG chair March 12, 2012 KPMG’s new UK chairman elect Simon Collins yesterday vowed to put his firm at the centre of the debate on how to win back trust in the financial services sector, as he celebrated his election victory against two better known rivals Oliver Tant and Alan Buckle. Collins, who is currently global head of KPMG’s transactions [...]
United Biscuits owners revive talks to break up the business March 12, 2012 THE OWNERS of United Biscuits, which makes brands including KP Nuts and McVitie’s, have revived talks with banks over options for its savoury snacks arm, including a potential sale of the business. Private equity groups Blackstone and PAI Partners have appointed Credit Suisse to look at separating its biscuits arm from its crisps and nuts [...]
Spain to miss goals as Italy hits recession March 12, 2012 SPAIN will be allowed to break the terms of the new fiscal compact, it was announced last night, as Eurozone peer Italy officially sank into recession. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (pictured) successfully persuaded the other Eurozone leaders at the Eurogroup that it is only missing its deficit targets because the country is mired in [...]
Debt holders lining up for lawsuit over risk warning March 12, 2012 INVESTORS who claim banks failed to warn them of the risks involved in buying Greek debt are to try and sue the government and banks involved, it was announced yesterday. Lawyers in Germany representing 110 investors have formed a class action group. Most of the investors involved spent between €100,000 (£84,116) and €500,000 on Greek [...]
Leaders give green light to bailout plan March 12, 2012 EUROZONE leaders approved the €130bn (£109.3bn) Greek bailout package yesterday, after private sector investors were forced to take major losses on their holdings of the government’s debt. Last week investors accounting for 85.8 per cent of the private sector’s holdings agreed to take a 53.5 per cent write-down, and an additional 9.9 per cent were [...]
Greece’s brand new long-term bonds fail to attract investors March 12, 2012 MARKETS are pricing in another Greek default as trading in its brand new long-term bonds opened at a discount of over 75 per cent yesterday. Athens announced that it has completed the largest debt restructuring in history yesterday as it swapped €177bn (£149bn) worth of bonds for a mix of new instruments including long-dated Greek-law [...]
Game teeters on the brink of insolvency March 12, 2012 GAME shares plunged as much as 78 per cent yesterday to just three quarters of a penny after it was unable to assure investors that the value of its shares could be redeemed or grown. Just weeks after renegotiating its banking covenants, Game said it was “uncertain” whether any of the solutions being discussed with [...]
