Moody’s staff say bullied to give top rating June 2, 2010 FORMER Moody’s analysts say they felt pressure from bosses obsessed with market share to assign rosy ratings to risky debt products, while the company’s current chief executive defended the rating agency’s business model, according to testimony released yesterday. Three former officials at Moody’s described an atmosphere of intimidation and fear, according to prepared comments to [...]
Europe to crack down on credit rating agencies June 2, 2010 THE EUROPEAN Commission stepped up its efforts to crack down on credit rating agencies (CRAs) yesterday, by tabling legal amendments to the supervision and transparency of CRAs operating in the EU. The Commission also launched a public consultation on corporate governance, as part of its “final push” to reform financial services in the EU. Under [...]
Jupiter owns up to its star manager risk June 2, 2010 FUND manager Jupiter yesterday admitted 38 per cent of its assets under management are reliant on just four individuals, posing a considerable risk to the success of its business in the event of any of them quitting. The admission, contained in the float prospectus, comes after Jupiter emphasised to investors in pre-IPO marketing that its [...]
Pru told to list its Asian unit June 2, 2010 PRUDENTIAL is facing calls to realise the value of its Asian business through a stockmarket listing after its $35.5bn (£25bn) play for AIA lay in tatters yesterday. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam and chairman Harvey McGrath, who are fighting for their professional lives along with the rest of the board, will come under pressure to provide [...]
Former Vivendi boss admits errors during 2002 freefall June 2, 2010 JEAN-MARIE Messier, the emblematic entrepreneur who created media group Vivendi out of a water firm through a spate of leveraged acquisitions that nearly choked the company, admitted in court yesterday he had made strategic errors. The 53-year old Frenchman, ousted from Vivendi in 2002, is standing trial, accused of giving out misleading information, manipulating stock [...]
Commodities trader is banned for market abuse June 2, 2010 THE City watchdog has fined a former Sucden Financial broker £100,000 for market abuse and banned him from the industry. It is the first Financial Services Authority (FSA) action taken against an individual for market abuse in commodities. The regulator took the action after Andrew Charles Kerr tried to manipulate the market in Liffe-traded coffee futures [...]
Swiss committee backs UBS deal but after referendum June 2, 2010 A KEY Swiss parliamentary committee recommended yesterday that parliament back a Swiss-US deal to bring to an end a tax row over bank UBS, increasing the chances the deal will get through. But the economic affairs and tax committee also recommended that parliament give the green light to a referendum on the deal, something that [...]
Northumbrian raises its dividend as profits surge June 2, 2010 NORTHUMBRIAN Water Group increased pre-tax profits by 11 per cent to £170.2m last year, after raising prices by three per cent to offset higher costs and bad debt, it announced yesterday. The utilities group, which supplies water to 4.4m customers in Northumbria, Essex and Suffolk, also moved into post-tax profit despite the temporary closure of [...]
HSBC names new Mid East boss June 2, 2010 HSBC said it had appointed a new head of its global banking and markets division for the Middle East and North Africa, who will focus on key markets in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Abu Dhabi. Mohammad Al Tuwaijri, a Saudi national, joins HSBC from JP Morgan, where he was managing director and head of Saudi [...]
Portugal Telecom wants higher bid June 2, 2010 Portugal Telecom wants more for its stake in Brazilian mobile operator Vivo than Telefonica’s new offer of €6.5bn (£5.4bn), a leading shareholder and sources with knowledge of the deal said. The sources said yesterday the strategy of Portugal Telecom and its key shareholders was to show Telefonica they were still not satisfied with the sweetened [...]
