Flood, Lawes and Croft fit for England March 8, 2011 ENGLAND manager Martin Johnson looks set to pick Toby Flood at fly-half and recall fit-again pair Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft when they resume their grand slam quest in Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland. Flood was an injury doubt, having suffered an achilles problem in the win over France 11 days ago, but [...]
F1 chiefs set Bahrain deadline March 8, 2011 FORMULA ONE: Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have been given until 1 May to decide whether they can rearrange the race for later this year. The Gulf kingdom had been due to stage the first event of the season this month but pulled out amid political unrest. November is the most likely date.
Gill: United debts no hindrance March 8, 2011 FOOTBALL: Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists the club’s £500m debts have not affected their spending power. Admitting “it would be better” if they did not pay £45m interest a year, Gill said: “We know it’s there but it doesn’t impact what we do. There has been no impact [on] our transfers.”
Wales restore Hook to fly-half March 8, 2011 RUGBY UNION: Wales have switched James Hook to fly-half for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations visit from Ireland. Fit-again Jonathan Davies returns to the midfield, meaning Hook moves to No10, with Stephen Jones on the bench.
Eurocrats back new tax on City March 8, 2011 THE European Parliament voted yesterday to slap a Tobin tax on all financial transactions that pass through Europe, in a bid to raise €200bn (£172bn) for EU?spending. The tax would disproportionately hit the City, Europe’s financial capital, at a time when banks are struggling to build up their capital bases. The EU?Parliament said the proposal, [...]
Hester could get £4.5m in bonus deal March 8, 2011 THE CHIEF executive of state-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could receive a bonus of up to £4.5m, under a long-term incentive scheme revealed last night. Stephen Hester could take home the all-share reward if he hits strict performance targets over the next three years, on top of a £2m bonus he will get [...]
BC Partners raises €4bn March 8, 2011 LONDON-based private equity house BC Partners has raised €4bn (£3.4bn) towards a buyout fund, as it builds one of the largest cash stockpiles since the financial crisis. Investors in the firm were told yesterday that it had reached a point where it could start to use the funds. The amount exceeds the €3bn BC Partners [...]
Why Britain must reject a Tobin tax March 8, 2011 IT is amazing how many intelligent people believe in free lunches. The latest instance of this bizarre intellectual affliction can be found in yesterday’s vote by MEPs in Brussels to slap a Tobin tax on financial transactions in the EU. The vote fortunately has no legal power, but European parliamentarians believe their scheme would raise [...]
Icahn returns client cash March 8, 2011 BILLIONAIRE hedge-fund manager Carl Icahn is returning outside investors’ capital, marking the end of an era as he joins a string of prominent stock pickers who no longer wants the headache of overseeing other people’s money. Icahn, known for his knack of picking winners and his ability to face off with captains of industry, says [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 8, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MOVE TO SYNTHETIC US JUNK BONDS Demand is growing for “synthetic” financial instruments that enable investors to take positions in the US junk bond market without owning the underlying securities. The instruments, created by using credit derivatives on junk bond or high-yield indices, resemble transactions linked to US mortgages that proliferated before the [...]
