French banks set for Moody’s downgrade September 11, 2011 FRANCE’S top banks are bracing themselves for a likely credit rating downgrade from Moody’s as early as this week, sources close to the situation said, further complicating their efforts to assure investors they are riding out the tensions in funding markets. Several sources said this weekend that BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole were [...]
Eurosceptics bid to grab power for UK parliament September 11, 2011 EIGHTY MPs are expected to attend a Eurosceptic meeting in Westminster tonight, as a wave of new activist politicians seeks to reshape the UK’s relationship with Europe. The new forum – founded by Conservative MPs such as George Eustice, Chris Heaton-Harris and Andrea Leadsom — wants parliament, not ministers, to appoint UK judges to the [...]
ECB in turmoil as top German official quits September 11, 2011 THE resignation of Juergen Stark, the top German official at the European Central Bank (ECB), could hardly have come at a worse time for Eurozone policymakers as they grope for a way out of the deepest crisis in the single currency’s 12-year history. The ECB is the one institution that has kept the Eurozone afloat [...]
Crisis manager steps up to replace Stark September 11, 2011 JOERG Asmussen, Germany’s 45-year old deputy finance minster, has an impressive CV. Since joining the ministry in 1996 he has risen through a variety of roles, working in international economic and monetary development, and on European policy and credit issues. From 2003 to 2008, he led the directorate general for financial market policy, and since [...]
Lufthansa mulling BMI sale after just two years September 11, 2011 ONE of Heathrow’s heaviest runway users, BMI British Midland, could be sold by its German owners after its losses widened. A Lufthansa spokesman told City A.M. the company was “exploring options, which could include a sale or partnership”. He added that the process is at “a very early stage”. BMI lost £54m in its first [...]
Kesa to update on future of struggling Comet unit September 11, 2011 KESA Electricals will flesh out its plans for its struggling Comet business when it unveils what are expected to be a woeful set of results on Thursday, sources close to the company told City A.M. The group had hoped to auction off the business but has seen its plans dented by a string of poor [...]
HAYWARD TO FINALLY QUIT BP September 11, 2011 TONY Hayward is set to finally sever his 29-year relationship with BP. The decision comes after the announcement last week he will take the helm at Genel Enerji following its takeover by Vallares. It is understood Hayward will resign his non-executive post at Russian joint venture TNK-BP. Hayward quit as BP chief executive after its [...]
Job vacancies in City slump by 20 per cent September 11, 2011 THE parlous state of the City jobs market has been underlined, after a new study revealed the number of vacancies in the City slumped by a fifth in August compared with a year ago. City employers created a thousand fewer jobs last month compared with August 2010, recruitment company Astbury Marsden said, following a torrid [...]
Pay packages for top British executives to start growing September 11, 2011 THE PAY packets of Britain’s top executives are set to start growing again after two years of stagnation, according to a survey released today, with almost 80 per cent of companies in the FTSE 350 saying they plan to increase payouts this year. Main board directors at FTSE 100 firms can expect their salaries to [...]
Number of legal positions falls but engineers still in demand September 11, 2011 NEW jobs in the UK’s legal sector dropped markedly in July, with new vacancies down 18 per cent year-on-year. Just 8,070 new legal jobs were advertised in July, down from 9,606 in the same month in 2010, according to figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) monthly trends report. Engineering and manufacturing remained [...]
