Banks to pay for education of consumers July 7, 2009 BANKS will have to fund a drive to improve consumers’ understanding of financial products, under proposals to be revealed today in chancellor Alistair Darling’s white paper on financial regulation. The Treasury believes a lack of sufficient education on finance contributed to the credit crunch and will tell the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to increase dramatically [...]
Chinese BAIC joins bid for GM Europe July 7, 2009 CHINA’S Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) yesterday offered to invest €660m (£570m) in GM Europe in return for a 51 per cent stake. The state-owned Chinese group’s offer is likely to involve plans to expand operations inside China, the world’s largest car market. The deal would need €2.64bn of state-guaranteed loans. BAIC would also look [...]
FAREWELL TO THE KING OF POP July 7, 2009 Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles was attended by 17,500 people yesterday. Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey both played, but former wife Debbie Rowe was not in attendance. Around 1.6m people had applied for 800,000 tickets to watch the service, and international viewing figures were expected to hit 1bn.
CHARTER FOR DIVERSITY TO CHANGE LAW July 7, 2009 STEPHEN WARDTHE LAW SOCIETY TODAY, the Law Society launches its Diversity and Inclusion Charter the legal profession’s flagship diversity initiative. At the official launch event tonight, which is being sponsored by Linklaters and Eversheds, around 40 leading law firms will be announced as founding signatories, but all law firms regardless of their size are encouraged [...]
Four Seasons put on the market July 7, 2009 Lenders to debt-laden Four Seasons Healthcare have rejected the company’s restructuring proposal and the care home operator will now be put up for sale, its bond administrator said yesterday. Four Seasons, which owes a total of £1.4bn put a debt for equity deal to lenders in June, and gave them a 6 July deadline to [...]
Boeing to buy plane plant July 7, 2009 Boeing the world’s second-largest plane maker, said yesterday it will pay $580m (£359m) for a plant that makes part of the fuselage of its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, may give Boeing more control over its supply chain.
BoA seeks strength in staff July 7, 2009 Bank of America, yesterday promoted two investment bankers to strengthen relationships with its largest corporate clients amid departures following the Merrill Lynch takeover. Stefan Selig, a 10-year BoA veteran has been made executive vice chairman for global corporate and investment banking. Steven Baronoff, who was with Merrill Lynch, has become chairman of global M&A.
CRH warns of profit nosedive July 7, 2009 Irish building materials group CRH yesterday warned pretax profit nosedived by 83 per cent in the first half and said trading would remain extremely difficult, but investors bet the worst was behind the group, sending its shares sharply up.
Commodity currencies on the turn July 7, 2009 OVER the past fortnight, risk aversion has returned with a vengeance as a string of data – including US unemployment figures and a downward revision to UK first quarter GDP – disappointed the markets. Foreign exchange markets have reacted predictably with both the US dollar and the Japanese yen strengthening markedly against the commodity currencies. [...]
Record US consumer defaults July 7, 2009 Soaring US unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans to an all time high of 6.60 per cent from 5.52 per cent in the fourth quarter.
