Bids for London Metals Exchange February 16, 2012 CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange, has made a bid for the London Metals Exchange, according to reports yesterday. In addition to the Chicago-based firm, is it thought that NYSE Euronext has also bid for the London open outcry market, which could be worth up to £1bn. The London Metals Exchange is considering ending [...]
Nasdaq hits decade high February 16, 2012 The Nasdaq last night closed at its highest level since December 2000, up 1.5 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also achieved its best close since May 2008.
The call that did for City rainmaker February 16, 2012 DAVID EINHORN: So – so how much equity do you think you need to raise to protect the situation? … as you pencil that out, what do those amounts turn out to be? ANDREW OSBORNE: Something like 350 sterling. DAVID EINHORN: 350 million sterling?… Wow, wow. That would be shockingly horrifying from my perspective. Later [...]
Warrant for Kazakh bank boss who snubbed court February 16, 2012 AN ARREST warrant was issued yesterday for Kazakh billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former BTA Bank chairman accused of embezzling up to $5bn (£3.2bn) from the bank. Mr Justice Teare found the tycoon – who fled to the UK in 2009 – in contempt of court for breaching orders related to the freezing of his assets, [...]
Toxic assets blow hole in SocGen profit February 16, 2012 FRENCH lender Société Générale surprised markets yesterday by reporting a sharp decline in revenues in the fourth quarter of last year, with losses from legacy assets and Greek debt write-downs coming on top of a slowdown for its investment bank. Overall, fourth quarter pre-tax profits for the group fell 60 per cent, with the investment [...]
Zurich gains despite disaster February 16, 2012 INSURER Zurich Financial took a $1bn hit on natural disasters last year but still plans to pay a bumper dividend after increasing profits by 10 per cent. Overall net income for 2011 amounted to $3.766bn, missing the $4.041bn expected by analysts, but the Swiss firm said it would pay a dividend of SFr17 per share [...]
US posts lowest jobless statistics for four years February 16, 2012 THE US posted strong unemployment figures, manufacturing output and housing data yesterday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.12 per cent on the back of the encouraging figures, as new jobless claimants fell to their lowest level since March 2008. The Labor Department figures registered a fall of 13,000 to 348,000 last week, well [...]
EU plan set to end final salary pensions and cost hundreds of billions of pounds February 16, 2012 THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) came under fire from British pension funds, employers and investors after it appeared to ignore concerns that proposed pension rules will cost hundreds of billions of pounds, force the closure of all final salary schemes and even bankrupt some businesses. It wants to impose rules on pension funds similar to the [...]
NYSE signals a new era with swoop for Fixnetix February 16, 2012 NYSE Euronext is attempting to bounce back from its failed merger with Deutsche Boerse by taking a 25 per cent stake in UK trading technology company Fixnetix. The index will pay £17.5m initially in a deal valuing Fixnetix at £100m. It has the option to buy the rest of the business by 2015. Stanley Young, [...]
AXA income up 50pc due to disposals February 16, 2012 AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, yesterday announced that full-year 2011 net income rose by 49 per cent, mainly due to asset sales. Earnings rose to €4.32bn (£3.58bn) last year, assisted by €2.3bn of income from the sale of its stake in Chinese insurer Taikang Life and other disposals in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Total revenue [...]
