Uncertainty remains despite plea-bargain February 7, 2010 ANTI-weapons campaigners might be up in arms, but BAE investors should be relieved by the $450m (£288m) plea-bargain it has agreed with US and British authorities. Observers had thought the cost of settling the case would be much higher. When the SFO said it would pursue criminal charges back in October, the firm’s stock shed [...]
Advisers lined up for SNCF deal February 7, 2010 French national rail operator SNCF is about to move closer to a merger with the UK’s Arriva transport group with the selection of advisers for the deal. Investment banks including Lazard, BNP Paribas and JP Morgan are expected to pitch for a role. Arriva, which last month said it was in merger talks with the [...]
FSA switches auditors February 7, 2010 City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is believed to have changed auditors in an effort to save £100,000 a year following pressure from Parliament. MPs have urged the FSA to drop accountants Grant Thornton – one of the UK’s biggest accountancy firms – with the National Audit Office which does not charge other arms of [...]
GDF could sweeten Power offer February 7, 2010 French energy giant GDF Suez is believed to be considering tabling a revamped offer for British rival International Power (IP), the FTSE-listed company valued at £5bn. Talks between the pair broke down last month after GDF offered to transfer assets into International Power in return for a majority stake. But IP’s chief executive Philip Cox [...]
Defender of business says a hung parliament would be disastrous February 7, 2010 HE MIGHT have parted company with the CBI four years ago, but Lord Digby Jones is still one of the staunchest defenders of the private sector. When he gives me his business card at the opening of a Vodafone store in the City, it is emblazoned with a motto that sums up his philosophy: “Only [...]
G7 reassures on Greek debt conundrum February 7, 2010 REASSURANCES about debt-strapped Greece and agreement that banks should pay for future rescue funds capped an international meeting in Canada’s Arctic, as European policymakers sought to convince jittery markets that they have things under control. Ministers and central bank governors said economies were recovering from recession but stuck to their view that it was too [...]
Big City banks must be allowed to grow again February 7, 2010 TOMORROW, Barclays chief executive John Varley will become the latest business leader to appear before the Treasury Committee’s inquiry into how to solve the problem of banks that are deemed too important – or too large – to fail. Following President Obama’s recent proposals, this is a hot topic at the moment and the committee’s [...]
MAJOR ISSUES AT THE G7 MEETING IN CANADA February 7, 2010 EURO ZONE FISCAL CRISIS European G7 countries told the US, Japan and Canada they would ensure Greece delivered on its promises to slash its budget deficit by the end of 2012. FINANCIAL REGULATION Last September, world leaders asked the IMF to come up with proposals for a levy on banks to help pay for financial [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY February 7, 2010 AFTER the Bank of England announced that it would be pausing, at least for now, its quantitative easing policy, the big event in the UK this week will be the quarterly inflation report on Wednesday morning. The Bank is expected to revise down its growth forecast while revising up its inflation predictions and will give [...]
Lack of confidence a country’s biggest problem February 7, 2010 THE BIGGEST problem for any country or company is a crisis of confidence. During the peak of the global recession, we saw what a lack of confidence can do to the biggest financial institutions and the richest nations in the world. Although everyone may have hoped that those problems were behind us, the rapid deleveraging [...]
