Directors must be re-elected annually, says new FRC code May 27, 2010 THE CITY has widely welcomed new corporate governance rules set out by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Replacing the former Combined Code, the FRC is introducing the new UK Corporate Governance Code in a bid to make companies more accountable to their shareholders. Among the changes are recommendations that all directors at FTSE 350 companies [...]
G20 GLOBAL BANK TAX PLANS May 27, 2010 Q. WHAT’S BEEN PROPOSED AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL? A. The IMF has proposed two new bank taxes: a financial stability contribution (FSC) would be linked to a resolution mechanism to pay for the fiscal cost of any future government support to the sector. Any further contributions would be raised by a financial activities tax (FAT) [...]
Greek banks’ earnings hit by recession May 27, 2010 THE sharp profit fall Greek banks so far reported in the first quarter offers a first glimpse of what will be wrenching their bottom lines this year as an austerity-induced recession to repair public finances deepens. Two of Greece’s largest lenders – National Bank and Alpha – both lost money at home in the first [...]
Spanish austerity plans just scrape through parliament May 27, 2010 SPAIN’S governing Socialists won approval for a €15bn (£12.6bn) austerity package by just one vote yesterday, avoiding a defeat that would have rattled markets and potentially brought down the government. The bill was approved by 169 votes in favour to 168 against, after the opposition Popular Party voted against, even making sure one of its [...]
Franco-German moves needed on short-selling, says regulator May 27, 2010 FRANCE’S financial watchdog yesterday called for urgent Franco-German initiatives to combat short-selling, a week after it slammed its neighbour for taking unilateral action to ban naked short-selling of some instruments. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, head of French financial markets regulator AMF, said he wanted to see better supervision of the market for credit default swaps (CDS), which [...]
Man looks to GLG as profits and assets fall May 27, 2010 MAN GROUP set its face to the future yesterday, focusing on its planned takeover of GLG Partners despite a drop in profits caused by poor performance at its flagship hedge fund. Pre-tax gains at the listed investment juggernaut slipped 27 per cent to $541m (£372m), while funds under management fell almost 16 per cent to [...]
Dubai’s private equity arm eyes new debt deal May 27, 2010 DUBAI International Capital (DIC), the private equity unit of flagship conglomerate Dubai Holding, is seeking a three-month debt delay, it said yesterday, in the latest blow to the emirate’s financial image. The investment unit has a $1.25bn loan maturing in June. “Dubai International Capital and a coordinating committee of banks today presented to lenders a [...]
HSBC collides with critics on chief’s pay May 27, 2010 DIRECTORS of HSBC, one of the banks that fared best in the financial crisis, are on course for a collision with investors at today’s annual general meeting over executive pay for chief executive Michael Geoghegan. Shareholders will vote on HSBC’s remuneration report, including a compensation and perks package worth an estimated £800,000, awarded to Geoghegan [...]
Markets boosted as China reassures on Eurozone assets May 27, 2010 THE euro staged a broad rally andUS stocks jumped about three per ceyesterday after China said Europe remains a key investment market for its foreign-exchange reserves. The People’s Bank of China said a Financial Times report that Beijing was concerned about its Eurozone bond holdings due to the European debt crisis was groundless. The report [...]
Banking jobs hit levels not seen since 2007 May 27, 2010 JOB opportunities in investment banking have returned to a level not seen before the financial collapse. The research, carried out by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, shows almost all banks are actively recruiting new people and some have in excess of 50 open roles open at any one time. January and February were the busiest months [...]
