KPMG to unveil next UK chair March 11, 2012 The audit and consulting group KPMG is due to announce its next UK chairman today. The race to succeed John Griffiths-Jones as leader of the firm’s UK operations has been whittled down to the last three: global head of transactions and restructuring Simon Collins, Alan Buckle, who has been supervising various European and global activities, [...]
Glencore eyes £3.5bn grain giant buyout March 11, 2012 COMMODITIES giant Glencore has emerged as the mystery bidder for Canadian grain giant Viterra. The Swiss trading firm, currently putting the final touches to a $90bn (£57bn) merger with mining group Xstrata, has made an approach for Viterra, which on Friday told the market it had been subject to expressions of interest. Glencore is already [...]
Record year for train travel in the UK despite price hikes March 11, 2012 THE NUMBER of train journeys made in Britain hit a post-war high in the last year, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies. Despite fares rising by an average of 5.9 per cent in January, passenger numbers rose six per cent in the year to March to surpass 1.4bn – the highest for a [...]
European banks to deleverage by €221bn due to stress tests March 11, 2012 EUROPEAN banks will deleverage to the tune of €221bn (£185bn) in the immediate future as a direct result of emergency capital requirements, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) said yesterday. But the international body of central bankers said that while this is “sizeable”, it is more limited than many had feared when the European Banking [...]
Eurogroup to sign up to a Greek rescue March 11, 2012 EUROGROUP nations will meet in Brussels today with a view to giving the final go-ahead to Greece’s second bailout so that their parliaments can ratify the rescue in quick succession. The IMF must also decide on and approve its share of the bailout money this week, though first it must conclude that the rescue would [...]
Sarkozy defies Europe with protectionist plan for France March 11, 2012 FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy, recasting himself as France’s saviour from low-cost competition and high immigration, threatened to disregard European limitations on protectionism as he sought to give his re-election campaign a second wind yesterday. Going out on a limb that risks angering France’s European partners, Sarkozy said it was time to support local companies and [...]
Belgium extends austerity plans to meet EU’s budget restrictions March 11, 2012 BELGIUM will extend austerity measures by €1.82bn (£1.5bn) because of a possible contraction of its economy this year, to keep its 2012 budget deficit within EU limits. After a full week of talks, ministers from the six-party coalition agreed a series of measures yesterday as well as the freezing of a further €650m of spending, [...]
Virgin’s £5bn has no place at Heathrow March 11, 2012 SIR RICHARD Branson said an investment of up to £5bn over the next few years will not find its way to UK shores unless the government rethinks its policy against a Heathrow expansion. He said that opportunities for investment in the UK have “ground to a halt”, echoing concerns voiced by his company Virgin Atlantic [...]
Credit easing to boost reliance on big lenders March 11, 2012 MICRO-BUSINESS funding organisations are becoming increasingly reliant on major banks for capital, a trend that could be accelerated by the government’s credit easing policy. New data for 2011 seen by City A.M. shows that banks now provide a fifth of the capital used for lending by Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), non-profits that lend to [...]
Banks in rate swap dispute with SMEs March 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top banks face claims of mis-selling from hundreds of small businesses that bought complex interest rate derivatives before the start of the financial crisis. Barclays and HSBC, as well as taxpayer-backed Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, all face allegations that they pushed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take out interest rate swap [...]
