Bank hints that easing is finished February 15, 2012 THE BANK of England hinted yesterday that it is coming to the end of its mass asset purchasing programme. Asked if more quantitative easing would be required to stop inflation falling below its targeted two per cent rate, deputy governor Charlie Bean said: “The risks around the target are equally balanced at the forecast horizon” [...]
Greek leader slams critics February 15, 2012 FRICTIONS between Greek and other Eurozone politicians escalated yesterday, after it emerged that Greece’s second bailout package could be postponed and replaced by a temporary injection of rescue funds. Greece could receive emergency funds purely to cover the €14.5bn redemption payments (plus coupons) due on 20 March, possibly via a debt swap deal with private [...]
Flawed euro is tearing Europe apart February 15, 2012 REMEMBER how the European Union was meant to create peace and goodwill across the continent, bring ordinary folk closer together and help forge a sense of common belonging among 300m Europeans? How it was meant to make sure that the horrors of war and aggression were banished forever, to close a vile and despicable chapter [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FOREIGN OFFICE PLANS £240M WORTH OF PROPERTY SALES The Foreign Office has drawn up plans to sell hundreds of embassies and homes worth nearly a quarter of a billion pounds as it increases its presence in fast-growing countries such as China and Brazil. The Foreign Office has hired property agents CBRE and DTZ [...]
Iran fright pushes oil up February 15, 2012 OIL prices soared to a six-month high yesterday after reports that Iran was banning oil exports to six European countries in protest at sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear developments. Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and France would be cut off, Iranian state TV claimed. Any such move would pre-empt the EU’s [...]
Moody’s places almost all EU banks on alert February 15, 2012 RATINGS agency Moody’s put more than 100 European financial firms on review for possible downgrades last night, in the wake of its mass downgrade of sovereign debt on Monday. UK-based banks such as Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland are included in the review. Lloyds, which has been on review since November, is also [...]
Jobs market shows signs of stabilising February 15, 2012 THERE were tentative signs that the worst could be over for Britain’s ailing jobs market yesterday, after official figures showed that unemployment fell at the end of last year. The jobless figure stood at 2.671m, or 8.4 per cent, in the three months to December – down 14,000 from 2.684m in the three months to [...]
Suspension for UBS traders on Libor inquest February 15, 2012 A GROUP of senior traders at UBS are the latest to be suspended in connection with a global investigation into whether staff at major US and European banks manipulated Libor, the interbank lending rate which affects $350tn of financial products. Zurich-based Yvan Ducrot and Holger Seger, who both hold senior positions in UBS’s rates businesses, [...]
Iceland execs in exclusive talks February 15, 2012 THE MANAGEMENT team for Iceland Foods, led by Malcolm Walker, have swooped in to clinch exclusive talks to buy back the firm from the liquidators of Landsbanki and Glitnir. The execs, who already own 23 per cent of the firm, now have first refusal to buy Iceland ahead of private equity firms such as BC [...]
Bumi investor vision at odds with the City February 15, 2012 THE SECOND biggest shareholder in FTSE 250 miner Bumi could be on a collision course with other investors as he arrived in London yesterday to outline his vision for the company. Indonesian mining tycoon Samin Tan, who owns 24 per cent of Bumi, is due to sound out other shareholders on a board shake-up proposed [...]
