PAULSON STANDS FIRM July 15, 2009 FORMER US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson yesterday said he was right to warn Bank of America boss Ken Lewis that top executives at the bank could be ousted if they failed to complete a merger with Merrill Lynch. The US government has been accused of heavy-handedness in the way it pushed the tie-up through
Fed to start scaling back fiscal stimulus July 15, 2009 US CENTRAL bank the Federal Reserve said yesterday it will start scaling back some of its unprecedented fiscal stimulus measures, as the nation heads for a recovery in the second half of the year. The Fed said “improved market conditions and declining use of the facilities” meant it could tackle fears about how the government [...]
American Express stops pension payments in UK July 15, 2009 CREDIT card giant American Express has become the latest firm to stop making contributions to the pensions of UK employees after it suspended payments to a fund operated for its British staff. The firm said it has made the controversial move to stop matching the contributions made by the some 6,000 workers for the next [...]
Icap-backed bid rejected again by LCH July 15, 2009 CLEARING house LCH.Clearnet has rejected a second takeover offer from a group including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Michael Spencer’s Icap, City A.M. can confirm The 14-strong consortium, known as the Lily Group, which is being advised by Deutsche, has been rejected again after making a €12-per share offer valuing the firm at €887m (£762m), 20 [...]
Citi close to regulator deal July 15, 2009 Citigroup is understood to be close to a secret agreement with one of its regulators that will increase scrutiny for the bank. People close to the situation said the deal had been discussed in recent weeks amid increased pressure on Citi from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Times reported.
China bank plans London launch July 15, 2009 Chinese commercial banking giant China Merchants Bank is launching an office in London with an eye to rolling out across Europe. The bank is currently seeking authorisation from the Financial Services Authority to offer services in the UK, following the launch in Canary Wharf of China Construction Bank in June.
Final Gatwick bidder walks away July 15, 2009 A consortium led by Manchester Airport Group has walked away from its bid for Gatwick, the UK’s second-largest airport, after it was unable to meet the price being demanded by UK airports group BAA. The consortium, which also includes Spain’s Ferrovial, was the last bidder for the airport but its £1.4bn offer was £100m short.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 15, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SKF SEES LITTLE HOPE OF QUICK RECOVERYSKF, the world’s biggest producer of industrial bearings, has dashed hopes of a quick recovery in global manufacturing after its chief executive said a broad upturn could be several years away. Tom Johnstone told the Financial Times that even by 2011 it was impossible to say whether [...]
UK energy bills will soar July 15, 2009 THE UK’s energy bills could rise by 17 per cent over the next decade as a result of government plans announced yesterday to generate one third of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2020. Energy secretary Ed Miliband presented a white paper setting out the government’s plans to also cut carbon dioxide emissions by 34 [...]
Unemployment inflicting huge toll on UK July 15, 2009 EVEN though the economy has now stabilised, the recession’s terrible human cost keeps on rising. Yesterday’s jobless data was horrific; younger people are being hit especially hard. Jobless numbers jumped by 281,000 to 2.38m in the three months to May, the largest quarterly rise since 1971; 7.6 per cent of the workforce is now officially [...]
