Top funds forced to set up pay panels July 1, 2010 LARGER hedge funds may be forced to set up remuneration committees, mirroring listed companies, according to the fine print of the European Union’s directive on banking. The text thrashed out by the European parliament and member countries says: “Credit institutions and investment firms that are significant in terms of their size, the scope and the [...]
Q&A: BEHIND THE BONUS NOISE July 1, 2010 Q.how long has this been brewing for? A.The European Union’s strictures on bonuses are part of a wider directive demanding higher capital requirements from banks and a new attitude to risk-taking. Work began in earnest around a year ago, and MEPs have been explicit in linking the overhaul to the events of the financial crisis [...]
BP is in talks with Chinese to sell assets July 1, 2010 BP COULD be close to securing a deal to shed parts or all of its $9bn (£5.9bn) stake in Pan American Oil to a state-owned Chinese bidder as the embattled oil major faces the worst ever recorded spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It is understood that BP is holding talks with the China [...]
Rogue trader is jailed after costing LCS £2.6m in debts July 1, 2010 A ROGUE trader who cost his employers £2.6m with a series of illegal trades was yesterday jailed for two-and-a-half years. Jonathan Bunn, who worked for Lewis Charles Securities (LCS), bet that HSBC shares would fall, building up a short position of more than 4m shares. The 31-year-old inter-dealer broker tried to cover his tracks by [...]
BAE SET?TO?CLOSE?FACTORY July 1, 2010 BAE Systems is set to close a its factory and design centre in Leicester, with a loss of 260 jobs, and will no longer be able to build armoured vehicles in Britain. The factory closure means that the company is likely to stop building vehicles from 2014. That is when work at its Newcastle factory, [...]
John Wood claims moratorium on drilling will not dent profits July 1, 2010 BRITISH energy services firm John Wood Group said it did not expect the drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico to have a material impact on it this year and expects 2010 results in line with expectations. The Aberdeen, Scotland-based company said yesterday that improving bidding volumes gave it confidence that there would be a [...]
RHJ closes on Kleinwort in £225m deal July 1, 2010 ONE of the oldest names in the City, Kleinwort Benson, changed hands for £225m yesterday as buyout house RHJ International acquired the business from Commerzbank. The institution, which traces its roots back to the 18th century, will use a period of private ownership to revitalise its brand by returning to merchant banking. The company will [...]
Manufacturing slows July 1, 2010 MANUFACTURING growth slowed across the major economies in June as export orders faded, according to the series of purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) published yesterday. The loss of momentum was led by China, which saw its PMI drop to 52.1, compared with 53.9 in May, according to the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. A rival [...]
BoE: Mortgage crunch ahead July 1, 2010 HOMEBUYERS were warned yesterday by the Bank of England that it would be more difficult for them to obtain a mortgage over the coming quarter as lenders anticipated a tightening in wholesale funding market conditions. Availability of secured credit had risen slightly in the three months to early June 2010, the Bank said. However, individuals’ [...]
US suffers shock rise in state jobless benefit claims July 1, 2010 NEW claims for state jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, while manufacturing activity and employment slowed in June, heightening fears the US economic recovery is stalling. The Labor Department said that initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 13,000 to 472,000, above expectations for 452,000. While layoffs have slowed sharply from early last year, [...]
