BP disaster bill hits $2bn June 21, 2010 Oil giant BP has admitted that the cost of its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has hit $2bn (£1.3bn) and it has paid out $105m in damages to those affected by the disaster. BP added in a statement that it rejected claims by its partner in the oil well, Anadarko Petroleum that [...]
Australia and China seal deals worth £6bn June 21, 2010 AUSTRALIA and China have agreed commercial deals worth more than $8.8bn (£6bn) – mostly in in mining. The agreements see state-owned China Development Bank undertaking to provide financing for several major mining projects, including a $1.2bn loan for an iron ore development. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is fighting a fierce mining backlash against [...]
Osborne set for painful budget June 20, 2010 ■ Chancellor to announce tax hikes and spending cuts ■ Ex-Labour minister appointed to review public sector pensions ■ Bank levy set to raise “considerably more” than £1bn THE chancellor will deliver the toughest Budget in almost 30 years tomorrow with a mixture of swingeing public spending cuts and painful tax hikes. Yesterday, he warned [...]
Barclays to deny foul play in bid June 20, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond will today deny the British bank planned to pocket a secret $11bn (£7.5bn) windfall when it bought Lehman Brothers’ US brokerage at the height of the financial crisis. In a resumption of the bitter legal wrangle between Barclays and parties representing Lehman Brothers, Diamond is expected to tell a New York [...]
BP’s Hayward to head east June 20, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, BP’s embattled chief executive, is to launch a Russian charm offensive in a bid to calm the nerves of President Dmitry Medvedev over the group’s future. Although the timing of the meeting has yet to be confirmed, Hayward intends to meet with Medvedev to reassure him that BP can survive the liabilities of [...]
Public sector’s turn to face recession June 20, 2010 IT hasn’t been fun being in the private sector in recent years. It bore all of the cost of the recession, with more than 100 per cent of the contraction in GDP falling on private firms – the public sector, meanwhile, continued to expand. Wage growth has been weak to non-existent for most private workers [...]
ECB: More fiscal policing June 20, 2010 THE European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet is today expected to set out strict proposals to stop further financial crisis in the Eurozone. The ECB’s first plan is to rule out expulsions from the 16-country group, to stop market jitters. Under Trichet’s proposals, Eurozone finance ministers would become “guardians of fiscal sustainability”, with an independent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES JPMORGAN PUSHES ON WITH TALKS OVER BRAZILIAN HEDGE FUND JPMorgan Chase is pushing ahead with talks to buy a large Brazilian hedge fund and private equity group, in spite of impending US legislation designed to limit the involvement of commercial banks in such activities. People close to the situation said the US financial [...]
China move spurs markets June 20, 2010 The Australian dollar jumped more than 1 percent and the euro hit a three-week high against the U.S. dollar in trading today as investors took China’s commitment to allow more yuan flexibility as a signal to buy riskier assets. China said on Saturday it would gradually make the yuan’s exchange rate more flexible, indicating it [...]
BASF SEALS £2.8BN DEAL June 20, 2010 Chemical giant BASF is poised to buy German specialty chemicals company Cognis for at least €3.3bn (£2.8bn) reports the Wall Street Journal. The deal was agreed this weekend, when Cognis and its owners, who include Goldman Sachs and private equity group Permira, rejected a higher offer from Lubrizol. An announcement on the deal is expected [...]
