Hallelujah: Peugeot’s latest car really, truly makes sense July 27, 2010 OK, I’m going to come clean. I distrust crossover cars, or crossover utility vehicles (CUVs). In the past when I’ve driven them I’ve tended not to like them. Neither one thing or another, they have always seemed to me to be the mongrels of the car world, compromised and with an identity crisis. Despite a [...]
CAR TALK July 27, 2010 SUZUKI’S SWIFT GETS BETTER This is the new, third generation Suzuki Swift which goes on sale in the UK in the autumn. Can you spot the differences with the outgoing model? No? Neither can we…but it’s lighter, stiffer, safer, cleaner and more economical. At 116g/km, it will be one of the cleanest petrol engine superminis [...]
CITY HEADS OUT FOR A GLORIOUS WEEK OF RACING AT GOODWOOD July 27, 2010 HORSERACING fanatics in the City have abandoned ship again this week to head over to Glorious Goodwood, running all week until Saturday. Around 100,000 attendees are expected to descend on Goodwood over the course of the festival, with the Tote estimating its potential winnings at £2.75m from 300,000 bets. Schmoozing at the first day of [...]
Hayward sent off to Siberia July 26, 2010 BP’S BELEAGUERED chief executive Tony Hayward will stand down in October and is expected to be nominated for a non-executive board directorship with TNK-BP, the group’s Russian joint venture. The oil major is set to announce Hayward’s departure this morning and will reveal that Mississippi-born Bob Dudley, the man in charge of the oil spill [...]
Basel rules overhauled to curb risk July 26, 2010 BANKS face a tough cap on leverage to stop them using off-balance sheet vehicles to hide their borrowings, under sweeping rules agreed by global regulators last night. Institutions will be asked to hold tier one capital equal to three per cent of their unweighted assets, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said. The ratio will [...]
Vince Cable’s confused bank rhetoric July 26, 2010 VINCE Cable was at it again yesterday, bashing the banks, calling for bonuses to be capped and for a new tax on their profits if they don’t lend more. It was a case of business as usual for the business secretary – or so we thought until we actually read Cable’s consultative green paper, on [...]
Basel III rules at a glance July 26, 2010 THE REGULATIONS EXPLAINED Q.WHAT IS BASEL III AND WHAT ARE ITS ROOTS? A.In the wake of the financial crisis, the G20 decided international capital and liquidity requirements for the banking sector were in need of a major overhaul. The original rules, known as Basel I, were drawn up in 1988 by a committee formed following [...]
AstraZeneca rises on Brilinta July 26, 2010 US reviewers gave mixed views on AstraZeneca’s experimental blood thinner Brilinta but the company’s shares rose on investor optimism that an advisory panel will back the potential blockbuster drug. AstraZeneca is counting on Brilinta to help offset the looming loss of patent protection on key drugs such as heartburn treatment Nexium and antipsychotic Seroquel. AstraZeneca [...]
Legg Mason profit falls on costs July 26, 2010 Legg Mason reported its quarterly earnings decreased more than expected as expenses rose and investors pulled money out of many of its funds yesterday. The US asset manager reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $47.9m (£30.9m), or 30 cents per share, compared with net income of $50.1m, or 35 cents per share, in the same [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES fears over china’s bad loans China’s banks are facing serious default risks on more than one-fifth of the Rmb7,700bn ($1,135bn) they have lent to local governments across the country, according to senior Chinese officials. In a preliminary self-assessment carried out at the request of the country’s regulator, China’s commercial banks have identified about [...]
