Petrobras on track for its £50.4bn sale September 23, 2010 BRAZILIAN state oil company Petrobras has received more than enough investor interest to sell all the stock in the biggest share sale in history in an offer worth up to £50.4bn, two sources familiar with the situation said yesterday. The offer is “comfortably oversubscribed” with strong investor demand, said one of the sources, though is [...]
Pension funds back FRC code September 23, 2010 A RAFT of UK pension funds have come out in support of the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC’s) new Stewardship Code. Eleven pension funds, collectively valued at £180bn, have banded together to back the new code, set out by the FRC in July. In a letter sent to the financial watchdog, the pension funds said they [...]
Kennedys makes unique move to open Miami arm September 23, 2010 CITY law firm Kennedys opened up its first office in America with the launch of a unit in Miami. The insurance specialist is set to open in the Floridian city at the start of next month in a bid to get closer to the firm’s Latin American and Caribbean clients. It will be the first [...]
AstraZeneca files thyroid cancer pill in both United States and European Union September 23, 2010 AN AstraZeneca pill that disappointed last year in treating lung cancer has now been submitted for regulatory approval as a treatment for thyroid cancer, offering the drugmaker a smaller sales opportunity. AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency had accepted submissions for vandetanib. The FDA also granted priority [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 23, 2010 LCCI The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry has appointed British Airways boss Willie Walsh as its new president following an election at its annual meeting on Wednesday night. Walsh, 48, will serve for two years, until after the 2012 Olympics in London. He has been chief executive of BA since October 2005, having also [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 23, 2010 WELLSTREAM Citigroup has downgraded its rating of Wellstream from “buy/high risk” to “hold/high risk” as the premium seems largely priced in and there is the potential for a takeover deal to not go through. The broker prefers to wait and see on what might happen with the British-based oil services company. DEBENHAMS Goldman Sachs has [...]
Simplicity is often a virtue September 23, 2010 WITH markets still directionless and a second-half slowdown looming, those with savings are increasingly looking into more exotic ways to preserve their nest-egg. The desire for safety combined with sinking government bond yields has fed demand for a series of structured products for private investors – that is, investment vehicles that promise a defined return [...]
Get paid more for being unhealthy September 23, 2010 ADEQUATELY funding your retirement has become a hot topic in the past couple of years, with a combination of falling interest rates and pension annuity rates eroding the value of pension pots. Earlier this month, it was reported that annuity rates, which are a key determinant of annual income post-retirement, had tumbled to a 20-year [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS September 23, 2010 LONDONERS WORRY ABOUT DEBT… R3, an insolvency trade body, has conducted research showing that 40 per cent of adults in the UK are anxious about their personal debt levels. Londoners are most affected: 49 per cent admitted being concerned. Nationwide, credit card debt is the source of the greatest worry at 51 per cent, followed [...]
A fresh take on fund managing September 23, 2010 HE MIGHT not look like your typical rebel, but Alan Miller is one through and through. First he railed against British divorce law and, since last year, he’s turned his sights to the wealth management industry. He launched SCM Private in mid-2009 after he became frustrated with the way his personal money had been managed [...]
