Markets in chaos after Merkel ban May 20, 2010 MARKETS worldwide were plunged into turmoil yesterday as Germany’s panic move to ban naked shorting triggered fears of a fresh financial meltdown. The FTSE 100 crashed by almost three per cent to 5,158.08, mirrored by similar falls in Paris with the Cac 40 dropping 2.9 per cent to 3,511.67, and Germany’s Dax plunging 2.7 per [...]
Liberal-Cons unveil final plan May 20, 2010 DAVID Cameron and Nick Clegg will today unveil the final text of their coalition agreement, outlining their programme for government for the next five years. The pair will herald a “historic” moment in British politics as their Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties join forces for the first time in over half a century, but will [...]
Merkel’s actions will weaken the EU May 20, 2010 ANGELA Merkel has no clue about economics. Her silly decision to slap various restrictions on short-sellers, even though shooting the messenger in this way never works, triggered pandemonium in the markets. It even led to capital flight to Switzerland, according to BNP Paribas. Merkel is panicking, trying to prevent her government from imploding and doing [...]
BVCA: Private equity repays investors’ faith May 20, 2010 PRIVATE equity and venture capital continue to outperform other asset classes, according to new research. A survey by industry body BVCA and PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the combined ten-year rate of return for private equity and venture capital was 13 per cent, compared to three per cent for pension fund assets and only 1.2 per cent [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GOOGLE DEBATES OVER FACE RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY Google executives are wrestling over whether to launch controversial facial recognition technology after a barrage of criticism over its privacy policies. Eric Schmidt, chief executive, said a series of public disputes over privacy issues had caused the management team to review its procedures and the launch of [...]
Davies says no to Lloyds May 20, 2010 LORD Davies, the former chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, has been asked whether he might consider taking the same position at Lloyds Banking Group. Davies, who held a government role until the election, was asked the question by Lloyds chairman Sir Win Bischoff at a recent meeting, revealed first by Sky News. Davies gave [...]
Cable eyes Post Office privatisation May 20, 2010 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable is reviving plans to privatise the Royal Mail, after the previous government shelved similar proposals in the face of backbench rebellion. City A.M. understands that today’s coalition agreement will include a pledge to “inject private capital” into Royal Mail, in a bid to modernise the archaic postal service. The Liberal-Conservative government [...]
Fed upbeat about US economy May 20, 2010 ECONOMIC forecasts by the US Federal Reserve remained positive despite a continued move to hold interest rates around zero. During an April meeting of the bank’s Open Market Committee, chaired by Ben Bernanke, the bank said that the labour market was showing signs of improvement, while housing market spending was also picking up. The Fed [...]
Senate delays reform vote May 20, 2010 IN A setback for the Obama administration, Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes last night to end debate on the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s, delaying a vote on its passage. The motion required 60 votes to pass but fell short with 57. The vote came near the end of a [...]
Rolet takes axe to LSE’s marketing team May 20, 2010 LONDON Stock Exchange chief executive Xavier Rolet continued his drive to shake up the business by axing the firm’s entire marketing department, City A.M. learned yesterday. Rolet last year chopped down the exchange’s brand management team by half, as part of a wide-ranging efficiency crackdown during which he also axed the LSE’s long-standing M&A and [...]
