Growth spurt ends as GDP set to shrink November 15, 2011 GDP GROWTH across the Eurozone slowed in the third quarter and although France and Germany both posted healthy figures yesterday, economists expect contraction to take hold from the last three months of 2011. The Eurozone grew by 0.2 per cent over the three months to September, which amounts to growth of 1.4 per cent when [...]
CITY VIEWS: NOW THE NEW YORK PROTESTERS ARE BEING EVICTED, IS IT TIME FOR OCCUPYLSX TO MOVE ON? November 15, 2011 DUNCAN MACKAY | MARLIN HAWK “Yes, I definitely think that the protesters in London need to be moved. It would be a different story if they had a real solution or agenda but there is no time line to see them go or make any real difference to their cause.” JAMIE WILSON | DEUTSCHE BANK [...]
Sino-Forest hits back after panel finds no evidence of mass fraud November 15, 2011 SINO-FOREST, the Chinese firm accused of misleading investors, claims an independent panel found no evidence it was perpetrating a massive investor fraud, but the forestry company’s chief accuser has said the probe lacked credibility. Sino said yesterday the panel, commissioned in June, found no basis for a short-seller’s allegations that the company was operating a [...]
EU puts off controversial ratings ban November 15, 2011 EUROPEAN regulators have stepped back from proposing controversial reforms that would ban ratings agencies from publishing views on struggling sovereigns. The European Commission (EC) also shelved plans for a public EU ratings agency on the grounds of cost, saying it would require some €300-€500m (£256-£527m) to set up, money not yet available from Brussels’ ballooning [...]
Goldman warns LSE may lose out on Italy income November 15, 2011 SHARES in the London Stock Exchange fell more than five per cent in trading yesterday after Goldman Sachs analysts cut it to a sell rating over its exposure to Italy. The LSE, which updates the market on its trading today, owns Italian clearing house CC&G and makes up to 38 per cent of its earnings [...]
Europe to vote on short-selling November 15, 2011 THE EUROPEAN Parliament has passed a law placing restrictions on short-selling and trading of instruments linked to EU sovereign bonds, despite evidence similar temporary bans have had little effect on price performance. The ban on “naked” trading of credit default swaps (CDS) will prevent investors from buying the instruments if they don’t own the bonds [...]
Banks should allow switching November 15, 2011 BANKS should be forced to allow customers to switch accounts at the click of a button, according to MPs collective the Free Enterprise Group. The proposal to make banks share IT systems is part of a raft of changes the group says would empower consumers and lead to greater competition in the banking sector. Other [...]
Pluthero quits as CWW falls to huge loss November 15, 2011 CONTROVERSIAL Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) boss John Pluthero sensationally quit the firm yesterday as it slipped to an eye-watering £443m first half loss. The sum – equivalent to more than half of CWW’s market cap – coupled with the suspension of its dividend, sent is shares crashing more than 26 per cent. Writedowns totaling [...]
THE ART LOVER’S RISE AND FALL November 15, 2011 As well as roles as a director of Merville Limited and chairman of Essensys, John Pluthero is also an enthusiastic collector of abstract art. Last year he founded AbstractCritical, an online forum that organises exhibitions and discussions around the subject. Background: Baroquey, 2009 – Anne Smart SINCE first coming to the City’s attention as an [...]
Olympus sums were queried in 1990s – banker November 15, 2011 AN INVESTMENT banker yesterday said he had raised concerns about dubious accounting at Olympus in the 1990s, after he discovered it was using Bermuda-based funds to “invent” assets and patch up its balance sheet. The banker’s concerns, which he says were discussed inside Wall Street bank PaineWebber, his employer at the time and the arranger [...]
