FSA could win veto on mega-takeovers December 11, 2011 THE City regulator could be given new powers to veto bank takeovers after the publication today of a controversial report into the collapse of RBS. The recommendation, believed to be included in the 500-page document prepared by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), is designed to prevent a repeat of the RBS-led €71bn (£49bn) takeover of [...]
MP triumphs as watchdog is set to publish and be damned December 11, 2011 MORE than a year after the City regulator released a paltry 298-word statement summarising its investigation into RBS, the publication today of a fuller report marks a victory for Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury select committee. Tyrie led the public outcry when, last December, the Financial Services Authority cited legal reasons and refused [...]
Cinven eyes Mothercare December 11, 2011 CINVEN, the private equity giant behind Pizza Express, is eyeing a potential takeover of Mothercare, the ailing baby products retailer. The firm is understood to be in early stages of forming a potential offer and has yet to approach Mothercare’s board, which is being led by chairman Alan Parker after his appointment in August. Last [...]
Boost from QE overestimated by Bank of England – report December 11, 2011 THE BANK of England overestimated the impact of its initial quantitative easing programmes, it emerged this morning, while the latest round of asset purchases could be less effective than previously thought. A study by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reveals that the policy caused yields on government debt to fall by only a fraction [...]
Babycare chain has a lot to prove if losses drag on for the next few years December 11, 2011 THERE was an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu when Mothercare’s chairman Alan Parker announced an overhaul of the troubled baby goods chain’s UK arm last month. Almost a decade after Ben Gordon parachuted in to rescue the firm from collapse, expanding Mothercare’s presence overseas and restoring confidence in the brand, problems at the heart of [...]
Last minute climate pact saves blushes December 11, 2011 POLITICIANS agreed a last minute pact yesterday to force the world’s biggest polluting countries to take action on greenhouse gas emissions – yet activists remain unimpressed, while businesses appear indifferent to the developments. A survey from PwC showed that indecision at international climate summits has paled in comparison with the effects on businesses from other [...]
Panel: S&P right to consider downgrades December 11, 2011 RATING agency Standard & Poor’s was “completely right” to put 15 of the Eurozone’s economies on credit watch for a possible downgrade, according to 54 per cent of our Voice of the City Panel, run in association with PoliticsHome.com. More than two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents also said they find the opinions of [...]
SINGAPORE TYCOON TO PITCH FOR FULHAM’S HISTORIC TOWN HALL December 11, 2011 FORGET the West End, the eyes of the property world will tomorrow be fixed on Fulham, when the council decides the fate of its historic town hall. The tender to develop the Grade II-listed site, which dates back to 1888, has been narrowed to a list of three developers – one retail, one residential and [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK December 11, 2011 BARCLAYS boss Bob Diamond last week revealed he encouraged up to 40 of his staff he considered “too ostentatious” to find other jobs. Something of a U-turn from the firm where a group of bankers famously spent £44,000 in the restaurant Petrus in 2001, but no matter – the point is that the six European [...]
Germans eye stake in UK’s air controller December 11, 2011 GERMAN air traffic controller Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is preparing to make a bid for the government’s stake in British equivalent Nats, according to reports. The state-owned German business is believed to have approached London investment banks earlier this month about advising on a deal to acquire the government’s 49 per cent stake in Nats, which [...]
