FSA’s Bailey says banks should be forced to ring-fence retail November 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S banks should be forced to fully separate their retail arms from investment banking operations if they try to circumvent new rules designed to protect the taxpayer, a top regulator warned. Andrew Bailey, head of banking supervision at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said banks should face the threat of being broken up if they [...]
G20 takes aim at shadow banking November 19, 2012 THE GLOBAL financial regulator formed by the G20 has revealed its bid to take tighter control of the shadow banking sector. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) said that it would seek to regulate the industry and thereby reduce systemic risk that could lead to another financial crisis. “The objective is to ensure that shadow banking [...]
Lonmin gets go ahead for issue November 19, 2012 LONMIN shareholders voted through its $817m (£513m) rights issue yesterday, as they questioned the board on issues of governance. The rights issue, announced last month, is designed to cut debt and shore up the balance sheet following the six-week strike at South African mine Marikana over the summer. Lonmin had warned it would be left [...]
Brits want more housing but not high speed rail November 19, 2012 THE BRITISH public would like to see the government invest in or facilitate more house building to boost the flagging economy, according to a poll out yesterday. However, a survey suggests that there is less support for building new airports and runways or for beefing up the country’s rail infrastructure. Four in ten people believe [...]
Terra Firma to spend £3.2bn on real estate November 19, 2012 DEALMAKER Guy Hands’ buyout group Terra Firma has agreed to buy Annington Homes from Nomura in a deal worth £3.2bn. Hands, best known for the high profile loss of music group EMI to Citigroup after the private equity investor defaulted on its loans, was behind Nomura’s purchase of Annington in 1996 when he worked at [...]
Judge throws out AIG lawsuit November 19, 2012 A LAWSUIT by AIG’s former chief executive Hank Greenberg alleging the Federal Reserve Bank of New York broke the law during the 2008 government bailout of the failing insurance company was yesterday dismissed. Starr International, once a large shareholder in AIG, argued the US acted unconstitutionally when it took 80 per cent of AIG’s equity. [...]
Comet announces more job cuts November 19, 2012 Comet yesterday announced 735 further redundancies, in a bid to save cash as the troubled company tries to find a buyer for the best parts of the business. Some 603 employees working for its home delivery network were made redundant, along with 132 from the firm’s head office – but no staff in stores have [...]
HSBC in talks to sell $9bn China insurance stake November 19, 2012 HSBC yesterday revealed it was in talks to sell its 16 per cent stake in China’s second largest insurer Ping An in a move that would bolster the bank’s capital balance sheet. The firm said in a joint statement to the London and Hong Kong stock market it was in “discussions” with buyers over a [...]
Ocado delivers on its debts but profits aren’t in the bag November 19, 2012 BEFORE anyone gets too excited about Ocado’s share price rising by more than a fifth yesterday, the troubled online grocer is still trading at less than half its original float price of 180p, which was itself at the bottom of the hoped-for range back in 2010. Yesterday’s raising of £35.8m staved off Ocado’s most immediate [...]
ING wins more time from the EU to sell assets and repay state aid November 19, 2012 DUTCH banking and insurance group ING has won more time from regulators to shed assets and repay government aid, avoiding a fire sale but keeping it under state supervision for longer and delaying dividend payments. The EU’s competition watchdog agreed yesterday that ING, which received €10bn (£8bn) of state aid in the 2008 financial crisis, [...]
