Few will blame investors that vote no May 9, 2010 IF Tidjane Thiam manages to get the FSA to approve his hastily rewritten approach to capital levels, it will be a short-term reprieve for the man from the Pru. This deal is not out of the woods yet – it could easily fall apart at the last minute. The main obstacle is the $21bn rights [...]
Goldman and SEC open talks over a settlement May 9, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs has commenced negotiations with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to try and reach an out-of-court settlement of the agency’s civil fraud action against the bank, it emerged over the weekend. Lawyers for Goldman met last week with SEC officials to open discussions over a settlement, in a sign that [...]
City firms see woes pile up since January May 9, 2010 WHOEVER takes the keys to Number 11 Downing Street will inherit an increasingly troubled financial sector, according to the first monthly City A.M/Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. Despite the pick-up in equity markets and bank profits, our figures show the number of City financial firms experiencing severe stress has shot up by [...]
Aviva sees sales drop by 11pc May 9, 2010 AVIVA will tomorrow reveal an 11 per cent drop in first quarter life and pensions sales, according to analysts, against the flow of gradual improvement reported by other insurers. The City’s consensus forecast is £8.5bn for the first three months of 2010, down from £9.6bn at the start of 2009. The fall contrasts with new [...]
Hotelplan UK to buy ski rivals May 9, 2010 Hotelplan UK, the owner of winter holiday tour operator Inghams, is this week expected to seal a deal to buy its rivals Ski Esprit and Ski Total, making it the biggest skiing holiday firm in the country. The company is thought to be in final discussions with Isis Private Equity to buy the two businesses [...]
LDC close to Antler acquisition May 9, 2010 Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) , the private equity arm of the Lloyds Banking Group, is on the cusp of snapping up long-established luggage firm Antler after a lengthy auction process for the business. Antler has been owned by Barclays Private Equity since 2004 and has been on the market since last September. Turnaround specialists Endless [...]
Wine investors rake in returns May 9, 2010 Fine wine continues to thrive as a relatively stable investment prospect amid wider market turmoil, according to the latest figures from the Fine Wine Fund (FWF). The fund has returned 19.4 per cent for the year to date, with the unit price increasing 5.1 per cent over the month of April. The fund’s managers said [...]
Hedgies fear EU assault in election gap May 9, 2010 EUROPEAN proposals to crack down on hedge funds and private equity could slip into law unchallenged because Britain’s political establishment is in flux, industry insiders warn. Drafting of the controversial Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive reaches a critical phase today with a vote in the European parliament. It will be discussed at a council [...]
Ex-New Star fund manager to fight for unlimited damages May 9, 2010 PATRICK Evershed, the former New Star fund manager who is suing the firm’s founder John Duffield for unfair dismissal, is due to appear in the Court of Appeal today to defend a court ruling that his case falls under whistleblowing laws. If the ruling is upheld and the case qualifies under the whistleblowing act, Evershed [...]
Liverpool granted extension on debt pile after nightmare season May 9, 2010 PREMIER League club Liverpool, put up for sale by its US owners last month, has been granted an extension on its debt pile under a deal brokered by its new chairman. A minimum 12-month extension had been granted on £237m of loans from Royal Bank of Scotland, giving loss-making Liverpool until the end of next [...]
