WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS TO PRESS ON WITH BONUSES Royal Bank of Scotland is determined to press ahead with plans to pay out promised bonuses to investment bank boss John Hourican and other top staff, despite growing rhetoric from the government about excessive pay. RBS, which is 83 per cent owned by taxpayers, has long been [...]
La Senza and Blacks saved from brink January 9, 2012 IT WAS all change on the high street yesterday after two of the UK’s stricken retailers, lingerie chain La Senza and outdoor sportswear company Blacks Leisure, were rescued from administration. Retailer JD Sports confirmed yesterday that it had bought all of Blacks’ 290 stores and the bulk of its business from its administrator KPMG in [...]
Angry Birds leads iPhone app boom as boss gets paid $376m January 9, 2012 FACEBOOK and the Angry Birds game were the most downloaded apps of 2011, Apple revealed yesterday, and the remaining eight of the top 10 were all games. Early last month Apple said its 2011 app downloads had smashed through the 100m mark. The technology giant’s chief executive Tim Cook received almost $1m (£646,700) in cash [...]
Unite rejects pensions offer January 9, 2012 TRADE union Unite rejected reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme yesterday, saying its members lacked “clarity” on the plans. Changes include basing pensions on average career earnings and linking the local government retirement age to the rising state pensions age. The union accused communities secretary Eric Pickles of wrongly claiming the proposals were agreed. [...]
HS2 go-ahead expected today January 9, 2012 THE DEPARTMENT for Transport is today expected to give the thumbs up to High Speed 2, the £32bn project which will link London with the north by high speed rail. Justine Greening will also reveal measures to soften the worst effects of the planned railway, which has been criticised in the belief it will disrupt [...]
Santander is ahead of its capital goals January 9, 2012 SANTANDER has raised all the necessary capital to meet regulators’ demands six months ahead of schedule, the bank declared yesterday. It said that it had raised the lion’s share – €6.83bn (£5.6bn) – through a controversial bond conversion known as Valores Santander. The project involved activating a clause that converted a huge slice of its [...]
Virgin picks former RBS executives January 9, 2012 VIRGIN Money has unveiled the full executive team that will be charged with embarking upon its “quest for better banking” for the high street – with a strong showing for staff formerly employed by bailed-out behemoth Royal Bank of Scotland. The full lineup includes four senior managers who used to work at RBS, including chief [...]
VIRGIN: THE TOP TEAM January 9, 2012 CHAIRMAN SIR DAVID CLEMENTI City grandee David Clementi is a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, a role he held until 2002. He has also been chairman of FTSE 100 insurer Prudential and chief executive of private bank Kleinwort Benson. CHIEF EXECUTIVE JAYNE-ANNE GADHIA Jayne-Anne Gadhia has worked at a range of RBS and Virgin [...]
UniCredit in fresh share price plunge January 9, 2012 TRADING in shares and rights in Italy’s largest lender, UniCredit, had to be suspended for the second time in a week yesterday after falling too quickly. The 12.8 per cent fall yesterday means that the bank has lost nearly half of its value in just one week since giving details of its heavily discounted rights [...]
Lloyds boss returns with a smile for the cameras January 9, 2012 LLOYDS chief executive António Horta-Osório returned to his first day of work after two months’ sick leave yesterday, taking five minutes out of his morning to pose for photos outside its Gresham Street HQ. His return came as the bank appointed Rothschild, the investment bank, to advise on its options for its business in the [...]
