UniCredit hires ex-Merrill banker October 14, 2012 UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank by assets, said yesterday it has hired Waleed El-Amir, previously the Middle East and North Africa investment banking head for Bank of America, to head its funding and investment portfolio business globally. El-Amir, a veteran Merrill Lynch banker, will replace Philipp Waldstein, who resigned from UniCredit early this year to join [...]
South Africa hit by labour turmoil October 14, 2012 Two months of crippling labour turmoil are likely to force South Africa to look again at its economic growth forecasts, the central bank’s deputy governor said yesterday. “Growth forecasts will most likely need to be revisited,” Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele said in a speech to a JP Morgan investor seminar posted on the [...]
IMF pushes for rapid start to banking union October 14, 2012 THE EUROZONE’S banking union should be implemented promptly to help the economies move on from the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said over the weekend, in the run up to this week’s EU summit. The call from the top finance body came just days after Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and French president [...]
Sweden finance minister: Grexit may come before next summer October 14, 2012 GREECE could leave the euro within the next six months, Swedish finance minister Anders Borg warned yesterday from Tokyo, where he was attending the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting. Borg said it was probable that the debt-laden nation would leave the Eurozone at some point and added that an imminent exit could not be ruled [...]
Softbank nears deal for Sprint Nextel stake October 14, 2012 JAPAN’S Softbank Corp is nearing a deal to buy a 70 per cent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp for about $20bn (£12.4bn), a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The deal, which could come as soon as today, is expected to be structured in two parts: Softbank will provide about $8bn of new capital [...]
Minister to pick an interim West Coast operator October 14, 2012 TRANSPORT secretary Patrick McLoughlin will today reveal who will run the West Coast Main Line while the government gets to the bottom of the failed franchise competition. McLoughlin is due in front of parliament this afternoon to outline the plans for the route once Virgin Trains’ current franchising agreement ends on 9 December. Both Virgin [...]
BAE looks abroad after failure of mega-merger with EADS October 14, 2012 BRITISH industrial giant BAE will concentrate on winning new overseas business to boost growth, following the collapse of its £28bn merger with EADS. Chief executive Ian King has also made it clear that he would be happy to revive the deal if national governments were willing to let it proceed. King has issued an open [...]
FTSE 100 chairmen cheer third runway for Heathrow Airport October 14, 2012 POLITICIANS might remain divided over the thorny problem of expanding Heathrow, but a survey of FTSE 100 chairmen suggests that big businesses would welcome a third runway. A survey of around 30 of Britain’s most powerful chairmen showed that more than two thirds would support an extra runway, though there was also support for a [...]
St Paul’s briefly re-occupied October 14, 2012 AHEAD of today’s anniversary of the Occupy London Stock Exchange protests that led to a tent city of anti-capitalists around St Paul’s, protesters took their grievances into the cathedral itself yesterday, unfurling a banner on the steps while others chained themselves to the pulpit during evensong. They left later last night.
Nuclear group Urenco attracts potential buyer October 14, 2012 FRENCH nuclear company Areva is thought to be examining a bid for British atomic fuel producer Urenco. Areva, which failed to make a bid for the Horizon nuclear new-build project by last month’s deadline, is now weighing up Urenco, according to the Sunday Times. The firm, which denied in January that it was interested in [...]
