GM triples Opel financing March 2, 2010 General Motors will provide €1.9bn (£1.7bn) in equity and loans to Opel, the carmaker said yesterday, tripling its funding and cutting its request for state aid in a bid to win over European governments and labour. GM estimates that Opel, which includes Vauxhall in the UK, needs €3.3bn to be turned around. GM wants loans [...]
Clarke: Brown hurting pound March 2, 2010 KEN Clarke yesterday said the pound was being hammered by fears Labour could win another term in government. The shadow business secretary said markets were taking fright at polls suggesting Gordon Brown might hold onto office. “It is only the prospect of a Conservative victory that has been holding up sterling,” Clarke said. The daily [...]
Hedge funds warn on disclosure plan March 2, 2010 THE HEDGE fund industry yesterday said plans to introduce a pan-European short-selling regime needed to be improved. Under a new scheme being recommended by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), a short position of 0.2 per cent or more must be disclosed to regulators. When the position reaches 0.5 per cent and thereafter it [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK A HUNG PARLIAMENT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE VALUE OF STERLING? March 2, 2010 MARTIN BATHER | SCH “I think it has to have an impact on sterling. In the current climate, things are very sensitive. It is difficult to say what will happen, but it will definitely depend on the outcome of the election.” NICK MAIDMENT | DEUTSCHE BANK “It’s already having an impact at the moment because [...]
DEBATING SOCIETY March 2, 2010 THERE will be three live face-to-face debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg on Wednesday evenings in the run up to the election, the BBC, ITV and Sky News confirmed yesterday. The public will be given a chance to put their questions to the leaders.
Hyundai sees sales rise as Toyota faces recall woes March 2, 2010 HYUNDAI yesterday announced a sharp rise in February sales, benefiting from recall woes at rival Toyota, which planned aggressive incentives to win back US customers. The South Korean firm’s sales rose to 34,004 from 30,621 last year. So far this year, sales are up 17 per cent to 64,507 from 55,133. Toyota’s recalls, totalling 8.5m [...]
Limit prop trading, says Lord Turner March 2, 2010 TIGHTER capital and liquidity control is needed at some of the UK’s biggest banks said Financial Services Authority (FSA) chairman Lord Adair Turner, as financial regulators begin plans to crack down on proprietary trading. Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday, Turner said that the FSA wanted to put “limits” on proprietary trading but [...]
Your chance to let politicians know what you really think March 2, 2010 THE City is the engine room of the British economy, but you wouldn’t know it from the policies of the main political parties. Few politicians are interested in reflecting or listening to the concerns of the hundreds of thousands of people who work in London’s business and financial sectors. With an election just weeks away, [...]
Metro Bank nears approval March 2, 2010 Metro Bank, the start-up high street lender backed by US entrepreneur Vernon Hill, is set to be granted a banking licence by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) within days, City A.M. understands. The City regulator is currently at the last stage of the approval process, where the licence is granted subject to final proof of [...]
BOND GURU FALLS FOUL OF PARTY CIRCUIT March 2, 2010 CRUMBS, the fixed income social scene can’t be much cop if Pimco’s resident investment guru-cum-scrooge Bill Gross is anything to go by. Gross – a founder and 38 year veteran of the distinguished company – popped out one of his monthly investment outlook notes yesterday, beginning with a lengthy spiel on the evils of the [...]
