World leaders kick the Cannes down the road November 6, 2011 DIPLOMATS are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop”. So said France’s most famous post-war leader Charles de Gaulle. So in my analysis of the G20 in Cannes, let me start by telling you the heavens were fully open from start to finish. Cannes was wetter than [...]
All eyes on Lloyds’ bulky balance sheet November 6, 2011 LLOYDS is expected to announce that it lost over £2bn to bad loans in a closely watched quarterly results presentation tomorrow, with investors keen to judge how it will manage its credit risk without the leadership of António Horta-Osório, who departed on sick leave last week. Horta-Osório had accelerated the shrinkage of the group’s balance [...]
Japanese exchanges set for merger by autumn next year November 6, 2011 TOKYO Stock Exchange (TSE) and Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE) are in the final stages of talks to merge, with the aim of combining forces in the autumn of 2012. Under one likely scenario being discussed, the unlisted Tokyo bourse would first take a majority stake in the smaller but listed Osaka exchange as early as [...]
Successor’s challenge will be to keep up the speed of non-core shrinkage November 6, 2011 WHEN Lloyds chief António Horta-Osório retreated on to eight weeks’ sick leave last week (perhaps never to return), analysts were quick to point the finger at the bank’s 144 per cent loan-to-deposit (LTD) ratio as the likeliest source of stress. With European interbank markets largely closed for anything but covered bonds, some suspect the bank [...]
Protests must be heard, says Labour party November 6, 2011 THE protesters campaigning outside St Paul’s cathedral reflect the concerns of millions of people and it would be “reckless” to ignore or dismiss them, Labour leader Ed Miliband said yesterday. The comments, which were made in a Sunday newspaper article, constitute the strongest signal of support for the protesters from a mainstream politician since they [...]
Willetts: Over-borrowing in the boom years was immoral November 6, 2011 INDIVIDUALS and politicians made a “moral mistake” by borrowing too much during the boom years, David Willetts, the universities minister, said yesterday. Willetts told Sky News the “values of our economy” had “gone wrong” under Labour, because there “was too much borrowing and not enough saving”. He said: “We were living beyond our means on [...]
David Cameron to preach moral markets and responsible business November 6, 2011 DAVID Cameron is planning to preach the importance of “moral markets” due to fears that Labour’s attacks on big business are playing well with voters. Although the Prime Minister will pour scorn on what he sees as Ed Miliband’s crude distinction between “good” and “bad” companies, he will maintain the Tories are committed to the [...]
City expects more St Paul’s-style activism over the next few years November 6, 2011 PROTESTS like the one outside St Paul’s cathedral will become a regular feature of life in the Square Mile, according to the City A.M. / PoliticsHome.com Voice of the City Panel. Eighty-two per cent of panellists said they expected more protests of this kind to take place over the next few years, compared to just [...]
3i expected to announce dividend rise November 6, 2011 BRITAIN’S oldest private equity firm 3i is this week expected to announce plans to double its dividend in an attempt to appease investors concerned over its falling stock price. The firm, which backs companies including the Early Learning Centre and Hobbs, the fashion retailer, announced in September that it would reveal changes to the annual [...]
Paddy Power exec to take Betfair reins November 6, 2011 BRIAN Corcoran, the chief operating officer at Paddy Power, is poised to take the reins at online betting exchange Paddy Power. Corcoran replaces David Yu following a five-month search that also considered internal candidates including chief financial officer Stephen Morana and independent non-executive director Ian Dyson. Corcoran, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Insead, [...]
