Accenture expects more growth as firms adapt to new regulation September 27, 2011 ACCENTURE reported market-beating quarterly results last night, and the technology outsourcing and consulting company forecast a strong 2012, allaying fears of an industry-wide slowdown triggered by a slowing US economy and the debt crisis in Europe. The firm said while the global economy has become more volatile, increased regulations and the need to adapt to [...]
Greeks vote for taxes but Germans rebel September 27, 2011 THE Greek government managed to persuade its members of parliament to vote for further austerity measures yesterday, a crucial step in securing its next tranche of aid to avoid a default next month. All the ruling Socialist party’s 154 MPs, plus one independent, voted to impose a controversial new property tax that aims to raise [...]
Debt crisis fears push up cost of Italian and Spanish borrowing September 27, 2011 RISING anxiety over the debt crisis meant borrowing rates for Italy and Spain hit their highest level since the financial crisis yesterday. Italy, which held its first government debt auction since it was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s last week, was able to raise its target sum of €14.5bn (£12.6bn) but two-year zero-coupon bond traded [...]
Crédit Agricole may follow its peers in launching asset sale September 27, 2011 Crédit Agricole, France’s third-biggest bank by market value, is expected to follow bigger rivals BNP Paribas and Société Générale in launching asset sales after the sharp falls in their share prices in recent weeks. Retail-focused Crédit Agricole is a different beast from BNP and SocGen. It has already restructured its investment bank and cut high-risk [...]
CONVERTING JUNK INTO TRIPLE-A: HOW A EURO RESCUE PLAN MIGHT LOOK September 27, 2011 UNDER one of the bailout plans for Eurozone banks mooted yesterday, rescue funds from member states would be leveraged through the region’s bailout fund and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB denied that it has been asked to involve itself: doing so would be a political hot potato because it would put the EIB’s guarantors – [...]
ECB to resist rates cut this month but cave in October September 27, 2011 THE European Central Bank (ECB) will probably resist growing calls for it to slash interest rates next week, although a stalled Eurozone economy will force the bank to cut them early next year, according to an influential poll of economists. The escalating debt crisis and new signs that the economy has taken a turn for [...]
How the Eurozone bailout of Greece is turning into one big subprime mess September 27, 2011 It might look like a template for the inside of a pinball machine, but don’t let the diagram above disguise the facts. Markets and euro politicians are tying themselves in knots over one very simple problem: how to convert junk bonds into triple-A rated bonds. This quandary might sound familiar, perhaps because it was at [...]
Tories attack Labour party from the left September 27, 2011 MICHAEL Fallon, the Tory deputy chairman, yesterday said the private equity industry was “out of control” while Labour was in power – even though he earns £14,000 a year as a director of a private-equity owned healthcare firm. Responding to Labour leader Ed Miliband’s speech describing buyout firms as “asset strippers”, Fallon said: “Miliband and [...]
Is Osborne doing enough to boost growth in the British economy? September 27, 2011 This week we’re asking members of our Voice of the City Panel whether Conservative chancellor George Osborne is doing enough to promote growth. We also want to know whether the government is doing enough to champion the private sector. Is it as pro-business as people expected it to be before the election? And if David [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS ED MILIBAND RIGHT TO TARGET PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS? September 27, 2011 AARON PAYNE | CONVERGYS “People shouldn’t be penalised for working hard or being creative, or for using private equity firms to try and build their own businesses and drive more wealth for the country. If you target them, you are going to lose that creativity.” MICHAEL STEFAN | HANOVER RESEARCH “It’s a bit unfair to [...]
