O’Sullivan back to winning ways February 5, 2012 Former world No1 Ronnie O’Sullivan captured his first ranking title in over two-and-a-half years after beating Stephen Maguire 9-7 in the German Masters final.
GLENCORE SET FOR £50BN MEGA-DEAL February 2, 2012 MINING giants Xstrata and Glencore have revealed they are in talks over a merger that would create the world’s fifth largest commodities company, potentially worth over £50bn and with revenues of nearly $200bn. If the deal goes ahead, Glencore’s outspoken chief Ivan Glasenberg is set to cede the chief executive spot to his long-time rival [...]
Facebook surges in grey trade February 2, 2012 THE VALUE of Facebook hit $123bn in grey market trading yesterday, after the social networking phenomenon announced it would raise $5bn in a public offering later this year. Financial spread betting firm IG Group, which is running a grey market in Facebook, said the website had attracted an “unprecedented” level of demand. IG Index’s chief [...]
Regulator now costs £580m February 2, 2012 THE CITY regulator has demanded an extra £80m from the firms it supervises in order to cover a 16 per cent rise in costs in the run-up to its abolition. The Financial Services Authority, which admitted several failures in the period leading up to the financial crisis, said it would need £578.4m for 2012-13, up [...]
FSA is missing a trick on living wills February 2, 2012 ENTIRELY unsurprisingly, the FSA is increasing its budget, by a cool 16 per cent. One thing it should do with the money is to accelerate its plans for a new bankruptcy code for complex banks. This crucial reform – known as a special resolution scheme – would be based around living wills: a detailed guide [...]
Fed: cut harder but slower February 2, 2012 AMERICA’S public finances are “clearly unsustainble”, Ben Bernanke said yesterday – although the Federal Reserve chief advised the government against immediate strong cuts. Referring to the need for fiscal consolidation, Bernanke told the House budget committee that “even more aggressive strategies than have been pursued recently are warranted over the longer term”. Yet he warned [...]
Ban on bonuses looms at Fannie and Freddie February 2, 2012 US SENATORS have voted to block bonuses for directors at bailed-out mortgage financers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. America’s upper chamber moved to ban the payouts, worth nearly $13m, under a bill amendment put forward by Republican John McCain and Democrat John Rockefeller. The bill, approved by a huge majority of 96-3, also needs to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RISKY DEBT USE ON REPO MARKET HITS 2008 LEVELS The use of lower-rated debt in a key US funding market has returned to pre-crisis levels, fuelling fears that the so-called shadow banking system is becoming riskier. The repo market is an important part of the shadow banking sector, which consists of unregulated financial [...]
Global vision helps Foster to build profit February 2, 2012 THE DESIGN house run by Lord Foster has increased sales and profits for a year in which it completed a series of major projects in London, Spain and America. Foster + Partners, which is responsible for some of the best-known buildings in the City, took turnover up 18.8 per cent to £159.27m while operating profit [...]
Cash-rich Blackstone hits out at attacks on private equity February 2, 2012 THE PRESIDENT of Blackstone has mounted a vigorous defence against attacks on the private equity industry. Tony James spoke out against “vicious, politically motivated” criticism after Mitt Romney, the former Bain Capital boss, came under fire in the race to be the US Republican presidential candidate. Blackstone, the largest publicly listed alternative asset manager, also reported lower [...]
