Pfizer settles bribery charge August 7, 2012 Pfizer has agreed to pay $60.2m (£38.5m) to settle a US government probe of the drugmaker’s use of illegal payments to win business overseas, American government officials said yesterday. The settlement is part of a crackdown on bribery by multinationals that has hit several of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms. Pfizer became the first pharmaceutical [...]
Swiss foreign reserves hit record August 7, 2012 The Swiss central bank held a record level of foreign reserves in July as it held back the Swiss franc’s strength against the euro. For the third month in a row, Switzerland added tens of billions to its accounts, with total holdings up from SFr365bn (£241bn) in June to SFr406bn. The national bank has pegged [...]
City fears over US pressure on British banks August 7, 2012 PROMINENT City figures raised concerns yesterday that US authorities are increasingly targeting the British banking sector following damning allegations that Standard Chartered laundered billions of dollars. The UK-listed firm is the second bank in two months to face US criticism for lax money laundering controls, after HSBC was accused of failing to scrutinise money being [...]
PROFILE: THE MAN THEY’RE CALLING THE NEW ELIOT SPITZER August 7, 2012 BENJAMIN Lawsky is no stranger to politics, serving as chief of staff to New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo before taking the top job at the state’s newly formed Department of Financial Services last October. His activity since has led to whispers that he may have an eye on higher office. The 42-year-old took has gone [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE ALLEGATIONS? August 7, 2012 GARETH GREENWOOD SHORE CAPITAL The revelation…comes as something of a shock to us, not least because at the company’s results presentation last week, management stood up and proudly highlighted how the group had avoided such scandals. Surely this investigation… ought to have been considered when making these comments? RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN There is some [...]
Former Lloyds security chief admits to fraud August 7, 2012 A FORMER Lloyds Banking Group anti-fraud chief yesterday admitted cheating the bank of £2.5m in what prosecutors called a “huge breach of trust” against her employer. Jessica Harper, who served as the state-backed firm’s interim head of fraud and security for digital banking, faces a lengthy jail sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and money [...]
Manchester Utd to kick off IPO after winning enough support August 7, 2012 MANCHESTER United remains on track for a Friday listing in New York, with the club’s initial public offering (IPO) appearing to have inspired sufficient demand to sell the new 16.7m class A shares. The shares, different from those held by the owners, will carry only one tenth of the voting rights and will not yield [...]
Upstart bank Shawbrook hits profitability August 7, 2012 SHAWBROOK, the fast-growing bank that services businesses unable to access funding from major lenders, today announced that it hit break-even after trading for less than a year. “We are now making a small profit on a monthly basis,” interim chief executive Philip George told City A.M. “It’s good, solid organic growth with plenty of demand [...]
Munich Re beats expectations and targets profits of €2.5bn August 7, 2012 MUNICH Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company, yesterday announced a consolidated profit of €812m (£644m) for the three months to the end of June, putting the firm on course to beat its year-end targets. Chief executive Nikolaus von Bomhard said he regarded the results as a “notable accomplishment” given the state of the Eurozone. “With [...]
Legal & General considers takeovers to boost growth August 7, 2012 INSURER Legal & General (L&G) is considering a number of small takeovers to accelerate growth, its new chief executive said yesterday, as the firm unveiled a strong set of half-year results. “You’ll probably see some bolt-on acquisitions – the balance sheet is very strong and there are lots of assets for sale,” said Nigel Wilson, [...]
