Row over Frankfurt power grab July 7, 2010 A CRUNCH vote on sweeping changes to financial regulation in Europe has been delayed amid accusations of a secret attempt to shift power from London and Paris to Frankfurt. The European Parliament has pushed back a decision on the workings of three super-watchdogs until September after 11th-hour tweaks to the legislation caused a furore among [...]
Heron Tower snaps up its first tenant July 7, 2010 HERON International has signed up international law firm McDermott Will & Emery as its first tenant in the Heron Tower, a person familiar with the situation confirmed to City A.M. yesterday. McDermott has agreed to pay £55 per square foot for around 25,000 sq ft of office space on the eighth and ninth floors of [...]
Mortgage lending down – bank robberies up July 7, 2010 MORTGAGE lending by British banks last year fell to the lowest net level since 2000 and bank robberies rose for the first time in seven years as the economic recession took its toll. Net mortgage lending by British banks fell to £36.3bn last year, compared with £59.4bn the year before and almost £80bn in 2006, [...]
European Commission says Greece on track July 7, 2010 ECONOMIC reforms intended to pull Greece out of recession and help it resolve a sovereign debt crisis are broadly on track, the European Commission has said. In a report from its June mission to Greece, the European Union’s executive said Athens was making good progress on fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic developments were in line with [...]
BA guarantees all flights even in face of strike July 7, 2010 BRITISH Airways will be able to guarantee all of its flights should there be any new strike action, the company’s chief executive Willie Walsh has promised. “If in case of a strike 100 per cent of flights will, as we believe, be guaranteed, British (Airways) will not only not lose money it will end up [...]
3i in earnings boost as client funds rise July 7, 2010 London-listed private equity firm 3i Group said its deal pipeline is picking up as financing conditions improve and trading stabilises, helping boost earnings at its own portfolio companies. Investments over the three months to end totalled £105m, including a £35m investment in French healthcare company Vedici. Proceeds from company sales were £79m, down from £163m [...]
M&S sales up but Bolland urges caution July 7, 2010 MARKS and Spencer posted a third consecutive rise in underlying quarterly sales, though its rate of improvement slowed a little and it joined rivals in sounding cautious about the consumer outlook. The company said sales at British stores open at least a year rose 3.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 July. That [...]
AgBank’s IPO to get $22bn July 6, 2010 AGRICULTURAL Bank of China priced its Hong Kong and Shanghai dual listing yesterday, a deal that would break all IPO records by raising more than $22bn when adding in over-allotment shares. The initial public offering (IPO), which is raising funds to replenish capital, still faces a tough aftermarket, with a debut planned for 15 July [...]
This is a square root shaped recovery July 6, 2010 HERE are some more weird and wonderfully expressive ways of describing the economy over the next few years. Yesterday, the Institute of Directors (IoD) warned of an “L of a recovery” – though the horizontal bit would actually boast a slight upward gradient, denoting weak rather than zero growth. But the IoD is also floating [...]
Huge pay for KKR chiefs July 6, 2010 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts were paid about $22m (£14.5m) last year in fee and other income, and own about a quarter of the private equity firm which is about to list on the NYSE, according to a regulatory filing. The firm is moving closer to gaining its long-sought New York [...]
