Verizon plans bond to finance Vodafone deal September 8, 2013 VERIZON could begin marketing the sale of up to $25bn (£16bn) in new bonds this week as part of its efforts to finance the purchase of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless. Verizon last week agreed to buy Vodafone’s 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130bn, half of which will be financed by $61bn [...]
High profile Lib Dem MP to quit September 8, 2013 A PROMINENT Liberal Democrat MP yesterday announced she would quit politics at the 2015 general election, saying she had become disillusioned with her party’s stance on immigration and welfare reform. But the resignation of Sarah Teather – MP for the marginal London seat of Brent Central – was met with a combination of soulsearching and [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct on track for FTSE 100 promotion September 8, 2013 THE FTSE 100 is set to become a more colourful place this week with Sports Direct – controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley – on track for promotion to Britain’s leading share index. Many pension funds that track the FTSE 100 will then be obliged to buy shares in the company, which has both [...]
Metro Bank pins hopes on seven day switching September 8, 2013 THE NUMBER of bank customers switching supplier each year could double under the new seven-day switching service, raising Metro Bank’s hopes that it can become an established player in the market. New banks have traditionally found it hard to gain a foothold in the sector as very few customers switch their current account from one [...]
Shawbrook takes business left by big lenders to hit £1bn loans September 8, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest banks have pulled out of specialist business lending, allowing Shawbrook Bank to more than double its loan book in the last year, the lender revealed today. Areas like specialised asset finance can be too time and cost intensive for the big players, leaving room for Shawbrook to make the £1bn mark. Around 75 [...]
Financiers invite Twitter to relive crisis in real time September 8, 2013 THERE ARE some in the City who would probably prefer not to relive the crash, but for those that do, a pair of financiers have taken to Twitter to track the banking crisis as it unfolded exactly five years ago. The account, named Real Time Crisis, updates the painful events of the 2008 crash for [...]
Walkie Scorchie architect admits his building emits death rays September 8, 2013 THE ARCHITECT responsible for the Walkie Scorchie skyscraper – previously known as 20 Fenchurch Street – has finally broken cover and admitted that his building has a few issues with reflecting light. Rafael Vinoly kept quiet in the immediate aftermath of City A.M.’s world exclusive that a light beam has melted cars parked nearby. But [...]
Tokyo to stage the 2020 Olympic games September 8, 2013 TOKYO was awarded the 2020 summer Olympic Games this weekend, beating Istanbul in a head-to-head vote after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a charismatic plea to the International Olympic Committee and promised Japan’s crippled nuclear plant was “under control”. The Japanese capital won what one insider had called a “least-ugly” contest by most effectively [...]
Economists divided over crucial timing of Fed’s tapering plans September 8, 2013 AFTER poor jobs data raised questions over the trimming back of the US Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) programme, opinions are split as to when the much-anticipated tapering will begin. Meagre employment gains announced on Friday divided analysts’ views of how likely it was for the Fed to begin reducing asset purchases this month. The expectation [...]
Italians debate expelling Silvio Berlusconi from parliament September 8, 2013 ITALIAN Prime Minister Enrico Letta warned of the risk of fresh political turmoil yesterday, a day before a Senate committee meets to decide whether to expel the country’s former leader Silvio Berlusconi from parliament. As the two main partners in his fragile coalition prepare for a showdown over Berlusconi’s future, Letta told business leaders that [...]
