Murdoch seeks to tie Penguin to News Corp October 29, 2012 RUPERT Murdoch’s News Corp has indicated it will make a “substantial cash offer” for media conglomerate Pearson’s Penguin Group, joining the race for the book publisher. The bid, said to total around £1bn, could scupper plans to tie Penguin with Random House, owned by Germany’s Bertelsmann. News Corp owns book publisher HarperCollins. Pearson confirmed on [...]
What the other papers say this morning October 29, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Lloyds to axe sales incentives Lloyds Banking Group has launched a scheme that scraps all incentives linked to product sales in the latest attempt to clean up bad practices that have been blamed for causing misselling scandals. Chinese banks flee London’s rules China’s largest state-owned banks are moving big chunks of their European [...]
Montgomery in talks with DMGT over Northcliffe October 29, 2012 NORTHCLIFFE Media, the regional newspaper publisher owned by Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), is close to being bought by a joint venture between ex-Trinity Mirror head David Montgomery and private media group Yattendon. DMGT yesterday confirmed that talks had begun on the deal, which is being supported by prominent asset manager Crispin Odey and [...]
Liquidity in AIM steady even as main markets slide during crisis October 29, 2012 LIQUIDITY in the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has held up much better than the main markets during the financial crisis and recession, according to data out today. Investors traded £155.1m worth of AIM shares on average per day during 2012, the data from accountancy group UHY Hacker Young showed, a decline of seven per cent [...]
Barclays mulls an investment bank salary cut October 29, 2012 INVESTMENT bankers are set to take another blow as Barclays considers cutting their basic salaries, joining the industry-wide flood of firms reducing pay and headcount levels. And recruitment specialists say any Barclays staff affected will have no choice but to grit their teeth and bear it, as they have few options elsewhere in the sector. [...]
UBS prepares to axe 10,000 jobs and refocus its operations October 29, 2012 SWISS banking giant UBS is expected to announce up to 10,000 job cuts in a deep new round of cost cutting as it battles to keep expenses under control to shore up profits in weak market conditions. The bank is one of many which is shrinking its balance sheets in response to new capital regulations, [...]
BNP Paribas opens new unit in US to expand custody offering October 29, 2012 FRENCH bank BNP Paribas will today reverse the trend of European banks cutting back as US banks expand, by launching a local custody service in the US. The bank has taken on 60 staff this year to launch the unit, which can now provide post-trade services to multi-national banks, brokers and institutional investors. Instead of [...]
Weak economy makes UK firms invest overseas October 29, 2012 BRITAIN is slipping down the rankings of the most desirable investment locations, according to a global study of businesses out today from professional services firm BDO. And mid-sized British firms are increasingly being forced to look abroad for investment opportunities thanks to the weak economic outlook domestically. The UK is now the seventh biggest investment [...]
Bleak times for investment bankers with few options October 29, 2012 UBS Investment Bank – A winning partnership” it says on the Swiss financial services firm’s website. It might want to rethink that slogan after it announces a much-anticipated programme of cuts this week. They are apparently set to stretch over three years and remove some 10,000 jobs or almost a sixth of its global workforce. [...]
Sir Christopher Gent to retire as Glaxo chief October 29, 2012 SIR Christopher Gent, the chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and one of the UK’s most respected businessmen, is to step down from the board of the pharmaceuticals giant. A person familiar with the situation said the company had already begun the search for a successor to Sir Christopher, who has chaired the firm since January 2005. Glaxo [...]
