Petropavlovsk chief steps down December 20, 2011 Petropavlovsk’s chief executive Pavel Maslovsky has swapped the boardroom for the senate floor, resigning from the Russian gold miner after being appointed a member of parliament in Russia’s far east region of Amur. The region is home to many of the London-listed miner’s key operations. Maslovsky, co-founder of the firm once known as Peter Hambro [...]
Blackberry maker to fix itself December 20, 2011 Research In Motion (RIM) has turned down takeover overtures from Amazon and other potential buyers because the BlackBerry maker prefers to fix its problems on its own, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Amazon hired an investment bank this summer to review a potential merger with RIM, but it did not make a [...]
Moody’s says Europe could hit UK rating December 20, 2011 THE UK is not immune to the sovereign debt crisis and may face a downgrade if no policies emerge soon to stabilise markets, credit ratings agency Moody’s warned last night. Although the UK’s triple-A rating is currently viewed as stable, the “formidable and rising challenges” of weak growth prospects and Eurozone worries mean the country’s [...]
Troubled RBS loses Amlin brokership December 20, 2011 RBS HOARE Govett, the broking arm of RBS, shed another key client yesterday when insurer Amlin said it had switched advisers. Amlin, the biggest Lloyd’s of London insurer by market value, announced it had appointed Morgan Stanley and Numis Securities as its new joint brokers – replacing RBS Hoare Govett which had previously been its [...]
Train tickets to rise 5.9 per cent December 20, 2011 TRAIN commuters will see fares rise by an average of 5.9 per cent in January 2012, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) revealed yesterday. Chancellor George Osborne said last month that rail fares would rise at one per cent on top of July’s retail price index (RPI) inflation rate of five per cent to [...]
HSBC sells off Japanese arm December 20, 2011 HSBC this morning said it would sell private banking business in Japan to Credit Suisse for an undisclosed sum. Europe’s biggest bank said the value of the gross assets of the business being sold was £1.7bn at the end of October. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in mid-2012. [...]
CHRISTMAS IN JAIL FOR EX-UBS TRADER December 20, 2011 THE former UBS trader accused of a $2.3bn “rogue trade” was yesterday given more time to consider his plea. Lawyers for Kweku Adoboli, 31, said they were “not satisfied” he had received adequate legal advice from his previous team. Judge Alistair McCreath told Adoboli he must enter a plea on 30 January. Picture: REUTERS
Bank to press on despite EU legal threat December 20, 2011 EUROPEAN law continues to pose an existential threat to Britain’s overhaul of its regulatory system but UK authorities are determined to press on regardless, a paper by the Bank of England and FSA said yesterday. The paper said that new powers to be wielded by the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will “be confined to areas [...]
Eurozone strife could prompt fresh easing December 20, 2011 THE BANK of England will consider extending its quantitative easing programme in February, a senior official of the Monetary Policy Committee said yesterday. A worsening of the Eurozone debt crisis could hit the UK through the banking system, Charlie Bean said, listing more asset purchases (QE) as one of the Bank’s likely responses. “At the [...]
PROTESTERS HAVE THEIR DAY IN COURT December 20, 2011 WAR veterans joined protesters to claim the former Old Street Magistrates’ Court as the fourth Occupy London site, yesterday. The group has renamed the building Occupy Justice and pledged to hold symbolic “trials of the one per cent”, including bankers and politicians blamed for the financial crisis. Yesterday they unveiled an armoured vehicle known as [...]
