Vauxhall nears Ellesmere deal May 13, 2012 Carmaker Vauxhall looks close to agreeing a deal with union leaders that could safeguard jobs at Ellesmere Port. Parent company General Motors has only promised to keep the Cheshire site open until 2014 and its future has been in doubt since GM revealed its European arm lost £355m in 2011. But talks between Vauxhall and [...]
Thai food giant mulls £2.5bn Birds Eye offer May 13, 2012 A THAI food firm has emerged as the latest suitor in the £2.5bn battle for the frozen foods group behind Birds Eye. Charoen Pokphand Foods, Thailand’s largest agribusiness firm, is preparing a bid for Iglo, which has been put up for sale by buyout firm Permira. The first deadline for bids was on Thursday when [...]
Yahoo looks for its fifth chief in five years after Thompson quits May 13, 2012 YAHOO’S chief executive Scott Thompson is stepping down after a shareholder drew attention to a fake computer science college degree on his company biography. The embattled internet firm will now begin the hunt for Thompson’s replacement, and its fifth leader in as many years. Meanwhile, global media head Ross Levinson will act as interim chief [...]
Three Spanish banks put aside billions for new property losses May 13, 2012 SPAIN’S banks will put aside at least €10bn (£8bn) to absorb new losses on a legacy of toxic real estate loans, three of the country’s largest lenders have said. Santander, CaixaBank and Bankia, which is set to be nationalised, all said yesterday that they will make provisions worth billions in response to tougher requirements unveiled [...]
Lawmaker calls on USA to ban Dimon’s trades May 13, 2012 US REGULATORS must design new rules in order to make it impossible for banks like JP Morgan to suffer huge losses of the kind revealed last week, according to one of the architects of America’s flagship financial reform law. Barney Frank, who co-authored the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, told ABC yesterday: “I hope that the [...]
This hedging hiccup could lead to even tougher rules May 13, 2012 IT’S only 74 days to go now before the start of the London 2012 Olympics and organisers are clambering over themselves to tell us how it will be the cleanest games yet. Drugs cheats will have nowhere to run, masking agents will be unmasked and only the truly virtuous will get to the winners’ podium. [...]
Politicians will draw the wrong lesson from JP Morgan’s losses May 13, 2012 JAMIE Dimon’s straight talking came back to bite him last week when he was forced to admit that rumours of huge bets JP Morgan had made using its treasury were a little more than “a tempest in a teapot”, as he had called them. Dimon’s critics have been quick to use the incident to call [...]
City panel says Greece looks increasingly likely to exit euro May 13, 2012 GREECE’S exit from the euro is looking increasingly likely, according to the overwhelming majority of our readers’ panel. Eighty-six per cent of our panellists, who have been specially recruited to represent London’s financiers and business people, said they thought Greece’s exit from the euro was either very or somewhat likely. Just fourteen per cent thought [...]
MPs Hague and Umunna battle over business May 13, 2012 THE SPAT between Conservative and Labour politicians over the state of British business intensified yesterday when Chuka Umunna took on William Hague. Foreign secretary William Hague reproached critics of last week’s Queen’s Speech who say it did not go far enough in its measures to boost UK business. “I think they should be getting on [...]
Hammond: gay marriage and Lords reform are low priorities May 13, 2012 DEFENCE secretary Philip Hammond has said House of Lords reform and proposals to legalise gay marriage are not priorities because the government must focus on policies “that matter”. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “Legislation on the House of Lords is in the Queen’s Speech. It will be introduced, and it will proceed. The [...]
