Barclays ends final salary pension plan June 3, 2009 BARCLAYS told staff yesterday that it is to close its final salary pension scheme, prompting a furious response from unions, who accused the bank of stabbing its employees in the back. The bank said it was closing the scheme as a result of the mounting cost of financing pensions for some 18,000 staff. Members of [...]
Premiership regains place as world’s most profitable league June 3, 2009 CHAMPIONS Manchester United yesterday set the trend for Premier League football clubs after announcing a lucrative shirt deal on the day when record-high revenue figures were announced. The Old Trafford club agreed to a four-year sponsorship deal with insurance giant Aon Corporation, replacing that of troubled AIG, which was bailed out by the US government. [...]
Hedgies could leave Britain June 3, 2009 LONDON’S hedge fund managers have told the Treasury that they will be forced to quit the UK unless proposed European legislation is altered significantly. Hedge fund managers gathered en masse at the Treasury earlier this week to coordinate the fight back against the plans to crack down on the alternative investment industry. According to a [...]
Indebted Debenhams to raise up to 400m in rights issue June 3, 2009 BRITAIN’S second biggest high street retailer Debenhams is expected to announce today that it is raising up to £400m through a placing and open offer. The high street bellwether is hoping to raise between £300m and £400m to cut its £1bn debt pile. Debenhams was controversially floated in 2006 by private equity firms IPG and [...]
HSBC to close sub-prime units June 3, 2009 HSBC said it plans to close 100 high street branches of its sub-prime division Beneficial Finance yesterday, putting 450 jobs at risk. It blamed the slowdown in the economy for the move. The group said the remaining 25 branches will close to new business. It said the unit, which includes Beneficial Finance, known as HFC, [...]
ABI: Don’t punish other sectors June 3, 2009 Regulators and politicians must be careful not to punish other industries for the mistakes of bankers, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned yesterday. The ABI argued in a report entitled Restoring Market Confidence that any move to remedy flaws in banking should not affect other sectors
Bernanke raises debt alarm June 3, 2009 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that Washington needs to get a grip on its exploding deficit or risk America’s longer term recovery. Speaking before the budget committee of the US House of Representatives, he said the government will need to develop a plan to tackle the huge US budgetary shortfall in order to [...]
LATVIAN BOND AUCTION FAILS June 3, 2009 A FAILED $100m (£61m) Latvian government bond auction yesterday sparked fears that emerging nations would find it difficult to attract buyers for sovereign debt issuance. It also boosted speculation that Latvia may be forced to devalue its currency, knocking Nordic and central European markets . The Latvian central bank has been burning reserves to defend [...]
Bargains help New Look to book a profit June 3, 2009 BUDGET clothing retailer New Look said yesterday it snatched market share from high street rivals Marks & Spencer and Next in the year to end March, as the recession caused consumers to seek cheaper fashion alternatives. The group, owned jointly by founder Tom Singh and private equity giants Permira and Apax, reported a pre-tax profit [...]
Swiss regulators in bonus crack down June 3, 2009 SWITZERLAND’S financial regulator is proposing new rules to align executive reward more closely with long-term profits and will pay special attention to UBS, the Swiss bank bailed out by the government. The Swiss Market Supervisory Authority, known as Finma, said it would tighten up rules in remuneration by January 2010, to prevent companies from offering [...]
