UBS triumphs in latest Extel awards survey June 12, 2012 THEY call them the Oscars of the City and yesterday the BBC’s presenter Emily Maitlis compered the 39th annual Thomson Reuters Extel survey, celebrating the City’s top performing professionals. Most notably, perhaps, Swiss bank UBS won the award for the leading pan-European brokerage firm for equity and equity-linked research for the twelfth year in a [...]
StanChart to start review of public relations June 12, 2012 STANDARD Chartered, the emerging markets bank that has been advised on its financial public relations for the past 10 years by Roland Rudd’s RLM Finsbury, is looking for a change. RLM Finsbury has been “put on notice”, a Standard Chartered spokesman says, and the bank is interviewing a host of public relations groups to see [...]
GSK buys new eczema drug in £146m deal June 12, 2012 BRITISH pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) yesterday announced that it has bought the rights to a new anti-eczema drug from Swiss firm Basilea for an initial £146m. Basilea will also receive additional payments of up to £50m if the drug is approved for use in the United States, as well as a substantial cut of future [...]
Leisure industry bosses urge plans to cut tax and lift jobs June 12, 2012 BUSINESS in Sport & Leisure, whose 70 members span the gaming to tourism industries, has urged the government to help unlock 440,000 potential jobs in the sector by cutting VAT and introducing initiatives to kick-start growth. In a report published yesterday outlining the impact of leisure on the economy, BISL revealed that the industry provides [...]
Nasdaq executive to join LSE June 12, 2012 LONDON Stock Exchange (LSE) said yesterday that David Warren will jump ship from Nasdaq to become its new finance chief, as it unveiled a management shake-up designed to diversify the company beyond its share trading business into data, technology and clearing. Warren, who holds the equivalent role at US exchange Nasdaq, will replace Doug Webb at the start [...]
BMW will build engines for new hybrid sports car at UK factory June 12, 2012 GERMAN carmaker BMW delivered yet another boost the UK auto industry yesterday, saying that the engines for its new hybrid sport model will be built at a factory near Birmingham. The i8 petrol-electric car will go on sale at the end of next year, with a three-cylinder petrol engine to extend its capacity beyond what is [...]
Premier Farnell investors hit out at exec pay June 12, 2012 NEARLY a third of shareholders rebelled over pay at electronic parts distributor Premier Farnell yesterday amid concerns about directors’ performance targets. The firm said 32.1 per cent of its shareholders voted against the remuneration report at its annual general meeting. Investors expressed frustration over the use of two six-monthly performance targets for the 2012-13 financial [...]
China threatens to seize planes in EU tax row June 12, 2012 CHINA yesterday threatened to impound European planes if its own aircraft are seized, in the latest tit-for-tat over the EU’s unpopular carbon emission tax. Chinese airlines, at the behest of Beijing, have refused to hand over data on their carbon emissions by Europe’s 31 March deadline. And now authorities have warned they could hold up [...]
Plus Markets asks investors to back board June 12, 2012 THE BOARD of troubled exchange operator Plus Markets yesterday urged shareholders to reject an attempt to oust the firm’s chief executive and chairman. Irate investors tabled the AGM motions after becoming exasperated with the directors’ handling of the proposal to sell the firm’s stock exchange unit to broker ICAP for a nominal fee. But shareholders in Plus Markets [...]
JOHN LAING MOVES INTO KINGSWAY ESTATE June 12, 2012 DEVELOPER UK & European has secured John Laing as a tenant at its One Kingsway estate in London’s Midtown. The PFI specialist has taken two office floors at around 25,000 square feet on a 15-year lease. It joins Tate & Lyle, which agreed to take the top two floors of the building at Aldwych, and [...]
