Split on Lords reform may end coalition February 27, 2012 A HIGH-PROFILE Liberal Democrat peer yesterday threatened to smash Conservative hopes for fairer constituency boundaries, arguing dissenting Tories must not be allowed to stop reforms to make the House of Lords more democratic. Vocal backbencher Lord Oakeshott warned Conservative MPs that if they refuse to back reform of the Lords, they “won’t find Lib Dems [...]
Soaring oil prices the great unknown February 27, 2012 IT was Donald Rumsfeld, the Bush-era defence secretary, who loved to separate events into “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns”. Even the former can have a huge impact. One key trick is to spot possible risks as they shift from one category to the other. In recent weeks, with the novelty of the Eurozone crisis wearing [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES WELLS FARGO EYES EUROPEAN BANK ASSETS TO POWER EXPANSION PLANS Wells Fargo plans to increase the size of its wealth management and insurance divisions through acquisitions as well as buying more assets from shrinking European banks, its chief executive says. John Stumpf, whose bank’s market capitalisation is bigger than that of any other [...]
Chris Woodhouse to head RAC February 26, 2012 Private equity firm Carlyle Group has hired Chris Woodhouse, the former finance director of Debenhams, to run RAC, the roadside assistance business it bought last June from Aviva. The move will see Woodhouse reunited with Rob Templeman, who became chairman of RAC last year and was previously chief executive of Debenhams. The two are well [...]
Bamford: promote UK industry February 26, 2012 A report by one of Britain’s leading industrialists has urged the government to become champions of manufacturing and cut business taxes to help deliver a revival in the economy. In the report commissioned by Downing Street, Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of the construction machine company JCB, says Britain should implement new policies to strengthen the [...]
Pru considers moving its HQ to Hong Kong February 26, 2012 PRUDENTIAL, Britain’s biggest insurer, is considering moving its headquarters, possibly from London to Hong Kong, to escape tough new capital rules for European insurers. Last night Prudential said it “regularly reviews” its options to “maximise the strategic flexibility of the group”. It added: “This includes consideration of optimising the group’s domicile, including as a possible [...]
HSBC to unveil pay packages for its top eight executives February 26, 2012 HSBC will become the first bank to disclose the pay packages of its top eight executives when it unveils its annual results for 2011 today. The bank will be the first to comply with new proposals being put forward by the Treasury, which would see each bank provide pay details of the eight top executives [...]
Banks line up for more cheap cash as ECB offers new loans February 26, 2012 BANKS are set to line up for more easy money on Wednesday when the European Central Bank offers an unlimited volume of cheap loans for the second time in as many months. Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland have both said they are attracted by the so-called three-year Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) because [...]
Andy Haste in line for RBS insurance job February 26, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) is considering appointing the former chief executive of RSA to be chairman of its insurance arm as it prepares to spin off the division. Andy Haste, 50, took control of RSA in 2003, turning the group around by cutting costs and closing its loss-making US operation. He spent eight years [...]
BP Deepwater Horizon trial delayed a week February 26, 2012 THE MULTI-BILLION dollar legal case into the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster has been postponed at the eleventh hour to give BP and lawyers for more than 120,000 plaintiffs more time to reach a settlement. BP was due to go on trial today in New Orleans over its part in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil [...]
