Oz carbon tax passes hurdle October 11, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S plan for a carbon tax passed its biggest political hurdle this morning when parliament’s lower house passed a series of 18 bills for the scheme. The new rules plan to reduce carbon emissions by 159m tonnes in 2020, to be achieved with a carbon tax from mid-2012 to mid-2015, followed by a carbon-trading system. [...]
Glencore in Bakrie talks over shares October 11, 2011 MINING giant Glencore is pressing the Bakrie group for more rights to sell coal and an option to buy shares in the Indonesian coal company Bumi, in exchange for refinancing a $1.34bn (£860m) short-term loan. The mining giant, which has in the past come to the rescue of cash-strapped firms in exchange for equity stakes, [...]
Keydata wins court ruling against FSA October 11, 2011 KEYDATA founder Stewart Ford compared the Financial Services Authority to a “runaway train” after a High Court judge ruled that the watchdog acted “unlawfully” in its use of legally privileged emails in its enforcement investigation. “Right from the beginning I have said the FSA has acted in an underhand way and I believe that the [...]
ENRC to buy miner from its founders October 11, 2011 EURASIAN Natural Resources Corporation plans to buy the 75 per cent stake it doesn’t already own in the thermal coal producer Shubarkol from ENRC’s founding shareholders for $600m (£384m). The news comes less than two weeks after ENRC completed its three month corporate governance review of the board’s directors and management following calls from investors [...]
Corporate governance concerns persist October 11, 2011 THERE were more than a few raised eyebrows in the City yesterday, after ENRC said it would snap up a thermal coal producer for $600m. Analysts liked the deal, but investors did not, sending the miner’s shares falling 2.3 per cent to 625p. Perhaps they felt uneasy that the coal producer is owned by ENRC’s founding [...]
TNK-BP names a new director October 11, 2011 BP said yesterday that its head of Iraq, Michael Townshend, is joining the board of its embattled Russian subsidiary TNK-BP with immediate effect. Townshend, who has worked for BP for more than 30 years, will replace former chief executive Tony Hayward on TNK-BP’s board of directors, which has been rocked by a dispute over BP’s [...]
Centamin says it is on course October 11, 2011 CENTAMIN Egypt said its gold production had returned to planned levels after the regular delivery of blasting products resumed in late July. It produced 50,539 ounces of gold in the third quarter, up five per cent from the second quarter and a jump of 67 per cent from the year-earlier quarter. Centamin said it remains [...]
Banks: little stability gain from Vickers too big to fail October 11, 2011 THE VICKERS Commission was completely unnecessary in solving the “too big to fail” problem, RBS chief Stephen Hester told a committee of Lords yesterday. “I believe that goal would have been accomplished without Vickers due to the international reforms that are in place,” Hester said. Barclays’ Bob Diamond agreed: “It’s not a question of with [...]
ECB back in the market for Italy’s sovereign debt October 11, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) was suspected of once again ramping up its bond-purchasing programme yesterday after yields fell at an auction of Italian debt. The Bank had scaled down its intervention in recent weeks, which was interpreted by markets as an attempt to put pressure on Rome to speed up the implementation of its austerity [...]
EU lenders set for tougher capital tests October 11, 2011 EUROPE’S banks will have to achieve a significantly stronger capital position under a quick-fire regulatory health check and may need to raise some €100bn (£87.5bn), banking and regulatory sources said yesterday. The European Banking Authority (EBA) wants banks to hold a minimum core tier one ratio of at least seven per cent under a recession [...]
