BC’s new fund pulls in €6.5bn February 21, 2012 PRIVATE equity house BC Partners has shone a ray of light on the troubled buyout industry by raising €6.5bn (£5.45bn), in the largest European fundraising since the onset of the financial crisis. The owner of gyms chain Fitness First and Swedish cable group Com Hem raised more than it expected despite many of the world’s [...]
Osborne’s lucky escape on the deficit February 21, 2012 FOR once, and I can barely believe that I’m writing this, George Osborne has reason to be happy. The budget deficit for this fiscal year to date (April 2011-January 2012) was a still horrendous, Greek-style £93.5bn, but this was down £15.6bn from a year earlier, a very non-Greek development. This is a much better performance [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 21, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES OSBORNE URGED TO CUT TAXES ON BUSINESS George Osborne has come under renewed pressure from the Conservative right to cut business taxes and simplify labour laws in next month’s Budget. Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, called for urgent action to deal with the “true horror” of the government’s economic inheritance. PANDORA PLUNGES [...]
HSBC overhauls bonuses February 21, 2012 HSBC is to adopt a complicated new way of paying the cash part of its staff’s bonuses after pressure from the Bank of England and FSA. The bank is set to unveil a system to pay for the up-front cash chunk of bonuses (20 per cent of the total) for senior UK staff by issuing [...]
J&J names new chief executive February 21, 2012 Johnson & Johnson chief executive William Weldon will step down from his post in April after a series of recalls called into question the quality of the healthcare giant’s products, from artificial hips to infant Tylenol. Weldon, 63, will remain chairman, the company said yesterday. He has held both roles for nearly 10 years, after [...]
Obama to lay out tax strategy February 21, 2012 The US Treasury Department will today roll out a corporate tax reform plan from President Barack Obama. The Obama plan will follow such principles as ”fairness” that the president laid out in his State of the Union address last month, officials said last night. Analysts said a cut in the corporate tax rate, which presently [...]
Trader fired amid fraud plan probe February 21, 2012 ASSET manager Threadneedle has sacked a trader over a suspected attempt to carry out a $150m (£95.03m) rogue trade. The American-owned firm made a complaint to the City of London Police after discovering the planned trade in August last year. It was stopped before it was completed. The deal would have been worth around $150m [...]
Oil could hit $150, says leading trader February 21, 2012 THE PRICE of oil hovered above the $120 a barrel mark yesterday as more of Iran’s trade partners looked to cut back fuel purchases from the country. The world’s leading oil trader Vitol said yesterday it expects instability in the Middle East to push prices further. Boss Ian Taylor said: “The Iranians now want the [...]
FSA body enlists Labour MPs to ambush financial reform bill February 21, 2012 A KEY FSA body is trying to ambush the government’s flagship financial reform by enlisting the support of opposition MPs to insert a last-minute amendment, City A.M. has learned. The change being pushed by the FSA’s Consumer Panel, an influential advisory body, would give firms a new explicit legal “fiduciary duty” towards their customers that [...]
ADELE CLEANS UP AT THE BRIT AWARDS February 21, 2012 Soul singer Adele last night added to her awards haul at the 2012 BRIT Awards in London, with two gongs for British female solo artist and best album. The 23-year-old also performed at the event at the O2 Arena, which saw the Foo Fighters win best international group and Coldplay pick up best British group. [...]
