Why Greece is the new Lehman Bros June 16, 2011 IT is a tale of two economies and two very different responses to catastrophe. Last week, the Icelandic government borrowed $1bn on the bond markets, paying only just over 3 per cent interest. It is an astonishing recovery for a country that just two years ago was written off as a bankrupt, discredited pariah, its [...]
Bank depositors lose cash June 16, 2011 A HANDFUL of depositors in a Portsmouth-based bank, which was dissolved yesterday, will be the first to lose some of their savings, days after the chancellor signalled he would get tough on depositors. Southsea Mortgage and Investment went under, leaving 250 savers asking for their money back from the government’s guarantee scheme. The Financial Services [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BOLTON’S CHINA FUND SUFFERS Anthony Bolton, the feted fund manager at Fidelity International, has suffered a stumble with the poor performance of his new flagship China fund this year. Mr Bolton’s China Special Situations fund raised £460m ($743m) when it launched with much fanfare on the London Stock Exchange last April. But in [...]
US votes to stop ethanol support June 16, 2011 The US Senate voted overwhelmingly last night to eliminate billions of dollars in support for the ethanol industry, sending a strong message that the era of big taxpayer support for biofuels is ending. The increasingly hostile attitude toward federal ethanol support has added fuel to a steep fall this week in the price of corn, [...]
India raises its repo rate again June 16, 2011 The Reserve Bank of India tightened its monetary policy again yesterday, raising the repo rate by 0.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent. It was the 10th time since March 2010 that rates have been hiked, with the Bank saying it will persist with its battle against inflation, even as growth slows in Asia’s third-largest [...]
Protecting consumers has priority June 16, 2011 CASES of mis-selling by financial firms such as the recent payment protection insurance debacle will be fast-tracked by new regulators under plans unveiled by the Treasury yesterday. Draft legislation to go through parliament next year will set up the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to be in charge of protecting consumers and policing firms — and will [...]
The City to face years of uncertainty June 16, 2011 THE City is facing years of uncertainty after the Treasury unveiled legislation to put in place three new regulators that will have powers to stop any business activity they deems too risky and apply different rules to different firms depending on their “risk profile”. A white paper, published yesterday, sets out the government’s plans to [...]
MEET THE CITY’S NEW REGULATORS June 16, 2011 ● THREE NEW BODIES The tripartite regulatory system, in which the Bank of England, the FSA and the Treasury governed the City, is to be abolished. It will be replaced by three new bodies: the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). ● FINANCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE The FPC, to be [...]
Concerns over duplication go unaddressed June 16, 2011 THE government has said that concerns over potential duplication and confusion between the new regulatory bodies it is creating will have to be resolved once they are established. In a white paper and accompanying draft legislation published yesterday, the Treasury said that a worry about duplication was one of the most common responses in its consultation [...]
Name and shame power June 16, 2011 THE new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will have the power to “name and shame” firms before they have been found guilty of any wrongdoing, as revealed by the government’s draft legislation for a new financial regulatory regime. But those accusing the firms of misconduct will not be named, which City lawyers have said goes against [...]
