Battle of the banks July 8, 2010 SOME OF the City’s most powerful names are gearing up for an almighty bidding battle over state-controlled banking assets including Northern Rock and parts of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene and City grandee Sir David Walker will take on Richard Branson’s Virgin money in a fight to create a new nationwide [...]
Advisers will get a slice of the limelight July 8, 2010 ADVISING on Lord Levene and Sir David Walker’s new retail bank is a particularly lucrative piece of business for Cenkos and Kinmont, who have already been hard at work preparing the team for what one insider described as “a pugnacious couple of months” ahead. Cenkos corporate broker Paul Hodges has so far been instrumental in [...]
ECB reassures over Eurozone July 8, 2010 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday dismissed fears that the Eurozone could be faced with a double-dip recession after the bank held the bloc’s interest rates at one per cent. The ECB has held its main rate at one per cent for 14 months but Trichet said that he expects the Eurozone’s economic [...]
We won’t run out of oil any time soon July 8, 2010 THERE is only one rule when it comes to the availability of oil: experts are always convinced it will run out – but it never seems to. Brent crude is now at close to $75 a barrel, which is high but hardly excessively so by historical standards. There will be upwards price pressure in the [...]
Spain to privatise banks July 8, 2010 THE SPANISH government will today approve an overhaul of savings-bank regulations, opening the door to private ownership of the mutually owned savings banks or “cajas,” Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday. “This is the most important reform ever of our banking system,” Zapatero said. The reforms enable Spain’s troubled savings and loans banks [...]
Swiss central bank down €7.5bn July 8, 2010 The Swiss National Bank has possibly suffered paper losses of up to SFr10bn (€7.5bn or £6.28bn) after interventions in the currency markets to restrain the value of the country’s currency. The central bank is expected to report a big loss in its second-quarter accounts, which come out in mid-August.
UKFI executive to step down July 8, 2010 Sam Woods, the chief operating officer at UK Financial Investments, which oversees the government’s bank stakes, is to step down, making him the fourth person to leave the organisation in the past seven months. Woods is now working as secretary to the government- appointed commission into whether retail and investment banking should be separated in [...]
Hamleys is back in the black July 8, 2010 Hamleys has announced its first annual profit in six years. The famous toy store reported a £100,000 pre-tax profit in the year to 27 March, compared with a £4.1m loss a year ago.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 8, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD UNDER FIRE ON £20BN PROPERTY ESTATE The Ministry of Defence has failed to make the most efficient use of its £20bn property estate and should consider selling more land to help reduce costs in the current economic climate, a report by the National Audit Office will say on Friday. The department raised [...]
Government cuts private pension costs July 8, 2010 THE government yesterday outlined plans that will shave billions of pounds off the private sector’s pension bill, by reducing the amount that pension payments must rise in line with inflation. In future, payments for those on final salary schemes will rise in line with inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), as opposed [...]
