Truth about banker pay: It’s falling February 5, 2012 BRITISH investment bankers are braced for deep slashes to their pay packets after a slowdown in trading saw their US rivals cut bonuses by up to 30 per cent. Industry insiders say that UK bankers are looking at a pay cut of 20-50 per cent – in addition to thousands in job cuts – contrary [...]
Heathrow flights cut amid snow February 5, 2012 HEATHROW airport yesterday cancelled half of the 1,300 sceduled flights as snow and freezing temperatures hit Britain. Despite the massive disruption at the UK’s busiest airport, owner BAA said its snow plan had worked “far better” than in previous years. It claimed making a decision about flight cancellations on Saturday gave passengers time to cancel [...]
Treasury tries to placate City February 5, 2012 THE TREASURY will try to win around critics of its flagship Financial Services bill today by inserting a new “proportionality” test for all new regulations on the City. In a last-ditch effort to stem a tide of criticism, City A.M. understands that the new version of the bill will force regulators to consider if the [...]
Rival eyes £500m GlobeOp bid February 5, 2012 A NEW bidder has entered the £500m race to buy GlobeOp Financial Services, the hedge fund services firm. US-based SS&C Technologies, a rival to GlobeOp, said late last night that it has been performing due diligence on the company since the middle of January. It is understood that SS&C will fire off a bidding war [...]
Rail bonuses row heats up February 5, 2012 JUSTINE Greening is set to become the first secretary of state for transport to vote at a Network Rail AGM, as the government steps up its opposition to large bonuses proposed for the group’s senior management. Greening said yesterday that she will exercise her right to vote against the bonuses at this week’s meeting, despite [...]
Why the debate has gone all wrong February 5, 2012 PART of the problem in Britain today is that public debate is taking place in a fact-less vacuum. People have no interest in what is really happening to investment bankers’ pay and prefer to ignore the regulatory revolution across all of finance, including banking, fund management, private equity, trading, accountancy and insurance. Take pay: as [...]
Deadline looms in Greece February 5, 2012 GREECE’S coalition parties must tell the European Union by today whether they accept the painful terms of a new bailout deal as EU patience wears thin with political dithering in Athens over implementing reforms. Technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos put on a brave face yesterday as he tried to get leaders of the three parties [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 5, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RATING AGENCIES RAISE DOUBTS ON SCOTLAND SECURING TRIPLE A STATUS XtryAn independent Scotland would not be able to count on receiving triple A status, credit rating agencies have told the Financial Times, potentially leading to higher borrowing costs for it if a referencum on independence was successful. The three leading credit rating agencies [...]
Glencore bid talks focus on premium February 5, 2012 MINING group Xstrata could lose out on its merger with commodities giant Glencore if the two companies ignore Xstrata shareholders’ demands to be offered a decent premium, investors warned last night. The deal, revealed last week, could see a combined company worth £50bn with revenues of over £110bn. Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis is tipped [...]
As crunch time nears there’s still a lot left to be decided February 5, 2012 SO as expected, Xstrata’s shareholders are kicking up a fuss over the premium Glencore is offering to pay for the company, barely a year after blocking a similar deal before Glencore’s record listing last May. With current talks rumoured to be moving towards a premium as low as a single digit figure, investors are unlikely [...]
