Strauss-Kahn gets a warm welcome on return to IMF August 29, 2011 FORMER IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn apologised to the institution’s staff in his first return visit since charges of sexual assault against him were dropped last week. He was greeted with warm applause. Strauss-Kahn, who was with his wife French TV personality wife Anne Sinclair, drove himself to the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and [...]
Trichet sends doveish signal on ECB rates August 29, 2011 THE European Central Bank is revising its inflation forecasts for the Eurozone, its president Jean-Claude Trichet told the European Parliament yesterday, sounding a more doveish note than in any previous public appearance in recent months. “Risks to the medium-term outlook for price developments are under study in the context of the ECB staff projections that [...]
Krueger appointed to tackle America’s lingering jobs crisis August 29, 2011 AMERICAN President Barack Obama yesterday recruited a top labour economist to take on the battle against the country’s stubbornly high levels of unemployment. Alan Krueger – a prolific author of many economic texts – has been appointed as the White House’s new chief economist, as Obama leads up to his much-vaunted plan for jobs. “Next [...]
Merkel says countries that can’t help themselves won’t get support August 29, 2011 GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel warned in a campaign speech yesterday that countries that do not do their homework on reducing debts will not be able to count on support from Eurozone countries. Merkel told a rally in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that countries which are willing to make a lasting and credible detour [...]
Zynga’s IPO may face delay August 29, 2011 ZYNGA may delay its pending IPO until November, with current market turmoil threatening to derail its plans to achieve a valuation as high as $20bn. The float, in which the online games firm plans to raise $1bn, was slated for September but Zynga feels it could inspire more investor confidence if it waits another month. [...]
Nordea to lay off 2,000 to cut costs August 29, 2011 SCANDINAVIA’s biggest lender, Nordea, has announced plans to slash 2,000 jobs by the end of 2012 in four northern European countries. The bank blamed the decision on “increased costs imposed by new global regulation” that are a “new normal” for the industry. Denmark, Finland and Sweden will suffer the bulk of the cuts, with 500-650 [...]
City backs Eurozone break up and voices disapproval of leaders August 29, 2011 EU leaders trying to dig Europe out of its debt crisis should be planning an orderly break up of the single currency, according to almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of City A.M’s Voice of the City panel, run in association with PoliticsHome.com. Thirty-eight per cent said they “strongly approve” of a Eurozone break-up, with a [...]
Share registrar Equiniti eyes more acquisitions August 29, 2011 EQUINITI Group, the private equity-backed share registrar, remains on the acquisition trail after reporting annual revenues of nearly £300m, according to its latest accounts. The firm, formerly Lloyds TSB Registrars before it was bought by Advent International in 2007, said it is interested in “small ‘bolt-on’” deals and expects to cut costs further. It made [...]
American trio snaps up Anglo Irish loan book August 29, 2011 WELLS Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase and Lone Star Funds were the winners of the $9.5bn pool of US commercial real estate loans sold by failed lender Anglo Irish Bank, two sources familiar with the deal have said. The sale marks one of the biggest since the downturn in US commercial real estate four years [...]
Crossrail delays UK contract August 29, 2011 Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, has delayed the award of a contract to build 60 train carriages, potentially increasing the chance that the deal will go to a UK company. Crossrail said the primary reason for delaying the £1bn contract to 2014 from 2013 was to save costs, but as a consequence of the delay [...]
