New rules for credit rating agencies May 18, 2011 Credit rating agencies would have to reveal more about how they judge financial products, and how those ratings perform over time, under proposals issued by US securities regulators yesterday. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to seek public comment on more than 500 pages of reform proposals on everything from conflicts of interest to [...]
TUI unveils pensions shake-up May 18, 2011 In a unique deal aimed at reducing its pension costs, holiday firm TUI Travel yesterday revealed a plan to overhaul its pensions structure, saving the firm £38m a year and limiting growth in its defined benefit schemes to 2.5 per cent a year. TUI has also pledged to hold up value in its Thompson and [...]
Glencore stock starts trading May 18, 2011 CONDITIONAL trading kicks off in the biggest float in London’s history this morning, with newly issued shares of commodity giant Glencore expected to open at a price of 530p. That would be precisely in the middle of the 480-580p price range it set before its investor roadshow. The price values the company at $60.1bn or [...]
Lloyds to sell off branches as boss signals bonus clawback May 18, 2011 LLOYDS Banking Group is speeding ahead with the forced sale of 600 branches by the end of this year, chairman Sir Win Bischoff has said, despite uncertainty over whether it could be made to sell more by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB). Bischoff also indicated that the bank could be the first to make [...]
Biggest residential-backed bond issue since before financial crisis May 18, 2011 SANTANDER UK yesterday completed the biggest issue of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) since before the financial crisis, raising £3.75bn. The bank denied that the sale was due to its float, which is set to raise between £4.5bn and £5bn, being pushed back to the end of this year or early next. Instead, it said that [...]
CBI to Clegg: carry on with cuts to deficit May 18, 2011 THE BUSINESS community gave a clear message to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg last night – “Keep calm, and carry on!” The coalition government’s deficit reduction plan was given an uncompromising endorsement at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual dinner. “Deficit reduction was the only way,” CBI president Helen Alexander told the assembled diners. [...]
LinkedIn joins market with $352m float May 18, 2011 LINKEDIN sold $352.8m (£218.2bn) worth of shares to the public yesterday, with intense demand for the stock a sign of renewed frenzy for online and social networking companies. LinkedIn, which allows people to create professional profiles and is widely used as a job-hunting tool, floated at $45 a share, the top end of a range [...]
Shock exit of AssetCo’s finance chief sends shares into 17 per cent freefall May 18, 2011 THE CHIEF financial officer of fire engine provider AssetCo resigned with immediate effect yesterday in the latest setback for the troubled firm. Scott Brown, who was parachuted into the indebted firm just seven months ago, was leading negotiations with AssetCo’s banks over a £50m long-term debt facility and had overseen a £16m rescue share placement [...]
New FSA will prioritise bank transparency May 18, 2011 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) and Bank of England will today hold a conference for bankers laying out the approach that the FSA’s successor, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), will take towards financial institutions. The conference comes as FSA chief and incoming PRA head Hector Sants said that improving banks’ transparency will be a priority [...]
PANDIT GETS $16M RETENTION BONUS May 18, 2011 CITIGROUP has awarded chief executive Vikram Pandit over $16.6m (£10.3m) in deferred compensation plus stock options as a retention bonus, a far cry from the $1 salary he took in response to the financial crisis. The third-largest US bank, which needed $45bn in US bailouts to survive the financial crisis, said in a regulatory filing [...]
