Public sector pensions hole grows December 15, 2010 ENGLAND’S public sector pension scheme may be underfunded by £100bn, research claimed yesterday. Unions reacted with fury to claims that the Local Government Pension Scheme’s deficit in England has more than doubled from £42m in 2007, and is now just 57 per cent funded compared with 74 per cent three years ago. Councils’ £5.8bn annual [...]
EXPRESS YOURSELF, WITH UBS’S STYLE GUIDE December 15, 2010 THE Swiss are famous for their precision, but only when The Capitalist got hold of UBS’s 43-page dress code for its branch staff did it become clear just how highly the bank values exactness. The dress code has been doing the rounds for a few days now, but you might not have had a chance [...]
RBS transfers Chinese retail arm to Asian bank December 15, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) continued its divestment plan yesterday by winding down its retail and commercial operations in Chinese cities. RBS will tranfer its 25,000-strong customer base, business portfolios and employees in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, to Singapore-based bank DBS China. The agreement will take six months and involves no cash deal, transfer of [...]
eBay snaps up Critical Path December 15, 2010 Web commerce company eBay said yesterday it acquired Critical Path Software, a mobile software application developer, as the company further embraces selling via mobile. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. US firm Critical Path Software has worked with eBay for over two years, most importantly developing its app for Apple’s iPhone, which eBay says [...]
Twitter financing values it at $3.7bn December 15, 2010 Twitter has raised $200m in financing in a deal that values the microblogging company at $3.7bn (£2.4bn), less than a year after it began its first serious efforts to make money. The investment came from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and existing investors. The money will help Twitter grow the [...]
The outlook for private equity in 2011 December 15, 2010 THE private equity industry has not experienced the bounce back this year that many had been either expecting or hoping for after a very difficult 2009. Yet despite a patchy and volatile 2010, there is a glimmer of hope that the recovery in portfolio values and confidence should become more entrenched in 2011, as bank [...]
Virgin Atlantic confirms a number of approaches December 15, 2010 VIRGIN ATLANTIC confirmed yesterday that it has received “a number of lines of enquiry” from other airlines about a possible tie-up or merger deal. Sir Richard Branson’s airline said it has appointed Deutsche Bank to help handle the approaches, which it said are likely to run on for a number of months. Rivals including US-based [...]
MAN OF THE MOMENT December 15, 2010 Mark Zuckerberg, 26, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook, was yesterday named Time magazine’s 2010 person of the year. He beat WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, the 33 rescued Chilean miners and the US Tea Party movement to the honour. The award is given to the person judged to have most influenced the culture over the last [...]
DTZ narrows losses to £6m December 15, 2010 REAL estate consultant DTZ said yesterday its first half loss narrowed on a strong performance in Asia, as it retained a cautious outlook due to market uncertainty in the UK and Europe. The company yesterday posted a pre-tax loss of £6m for the six months to 31 October, compared to a loss of £20.6m in [...]
Weak banks drag on FTSE as Moody’s warns on Spain December 15, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index slipped back yesterday, snapping a four-session winning streak, with banks the worst performers as investors’ risk appetite waned on fresh eurozone debt concerns. The FTSE 100 ended down 9.03 points, or 0.2 per cent at 5,882.18, having finished at its highest close for 30 months on Tuesday after putting on 1.7 [...]
