Europe approves derivatives rules March 29, 2012 THE European Parliament yesterday voted in favour of new legislation that will force some over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives to be traded through clearinghouses. The rules are designed to make Europe’s derivatives market – valued at over €300 trillion last year – more transparent, and will mean EU regulators can dictate which derivatives must be centrally cleared.
Liontrust boosted as assets jump 13pc March 29, 2012 LIONTRUST Asset Management has seen its assets rise 13 per cent so far this year, boosted by further client inflows and buoyant markets. The firm yesterday posted net positive inflows of £72m since the end of 2011, as sales of funds to retail investors outweighed outflows from institutional and offshore funds. The results reflect Liontrust’s [...]
ADVISERS BARCLAYS March 29, 2012 CO-HEAD M&A MATTHEW Ponsonby, co-head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa is one of the key players on the team advising International Power (IP). The bank hired Ponsonby in 2009 to set up an M&A team in Europe, and he has since led a team advising car rental company Avis [...]
Rail firms line up to take on UK franchises March 29, 2012 THIRTEEN companies are vying to take on more rail routes in the UK, the Department for Transport revealed yesterday. Rail minister Theresa Villiers welcomed the “strong interest” in the three franchises up for grabs – the Great Western line between Penzance and Paddington, the Essex Thameside route and London’s Thameslink services. This is part of [...]
Maybe the co-operative model isn’t so good after all March 29, 2012 PSST. Don’t tell Nick Clegg, but “co-operative” is not a byword for success. Earlier this year, the deputy prime minister said he wanted Britain to become a “John Lewis economy”, in reference to the firm’s employee-owned structure. Yet there are just two major co-ops in the UK. John Lewis, the patron saint of retailers, is [...]
FirstGroup bus margins to fall March 29, 2012 FIRSTGROUP’S shares plunged 14 per cent yesterday as the transport operator warned it would cut margins by over a third in its UK bus division next year. In a pre-close trading update, the Aberdeen-based group said increased fuel costs, the growing north-south divide and the impact of reduced government subsidies and funding to the industry [...]
End of relief on stamp duty hits UK house prices March 29, 2012 HOUSE prices fell sharply in March, data from Nationwide showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers came to an end. Lending figures from the Bank of England also showed mortgage approvals plunged in February, suggesting the market has slowed further. Prices fell one per cent in March, the first decline in six [...]
Rise in the money supply gives hope UK is heading for recovery March 29, 2012 HEALTHY money supply figures published yesterday could point to a modest economic recovery, as households’ and non-financial companies’ holdings increased in February. The non-financial M4 measure of money supply rose 2.3 per cent in the six months to February, Bank of England data showed. Holdings by financial corporations fell, but have little bearing on the [...]
Worried shoppers hit Eurozone economies March 29, 2012 FALLING retail sales and weak consumer confidence figures out yesterday show the Eurozone heading for stagnation or further decline, economists warned. Euro area sales revenues fell for the fifth consecutive month in March, according to Markit’s retail purchasing managers’ index (PMI), although with a score of 49.1 the fall was much slower than in January, [...]
SPAIN STRIKES AHEAD OF FRESH AUSTERITY CUTS March 29, 2012 ANTI-AUSTERITY demonstrators slowed public transport to a crawl and disrupted factories across Spain yesterday, in a general strike over Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s sweeping reforms, a day before a new round of budget cuts. Police arrested 58 people, many of whom were trying to stop workers crossing picket lines to get to their jobs.
