UK pushes Europe for tougher finance rules October 3, 2012 NEW TREASURY minister Greg Clark last night praised the EU’s tough new banking proposals, and demanded the authorities get even stricter on rogue financiers. But analysts warned the proposals derived from a report by Finnish central banker Errki Liikanen could drive up banks’ funding costs by splitting retail and investment operations, and push down stocks [...]
Time limitation laws to curtail number of sub-prime appeals October 3, 2012 US INVESTORS who fear they were sold dodgy mortgage-backed derivatives by banks could miss out on the chance to sue because of the statute of limitations, lawyers warned yesterday. “The suit against JP Morgan has been brought by the New York state attorney general, but many investors have sued banks in their own right,” said [...]
Former UBS exec aims to lead broker into commodities gap October 3, 2012 JOHN Wall, a former UBS investment banking boss, yesterday took charge of London-based commodities broker Marex Spectron and revealed ambitious plans to usurp investment banks’ foothold in the market. Wall, the global co-head of investment banking at UBS until his retirement in March 2011, will replace Roger Nagioff at the helm of the firm, which [...]
Export chief jumps ship to Charity Bank October 3, 2012 GOVERNMENT export finance boss Patrick Crawford yesterday announced he is leaving the department to head up the 10-year old Charity Bank. The former Deutsche Bank financier and Standard Chartered adviser and fund manager spent eight years heading UK Export Finance for the state. As lending has not fully recovered from the financial crisis, Crawford said [...]
Portugal ventures back into bonds as unveils fresh austerity measures October 3, 2012 PORTUGAL yesterday announced sweeping tax rises to meet the budget goals imposed as part of its €78bn (£62.6bn) bailout. Three income tax bands will be scrapped, finance minister Vitor Gaspar said, bringing the number from eight to five, and raising the average income tax rate from 9.8 per cent to 11.8 per cent. Earners will [...]
Retailing flat in Eurozone October 3, 2012 AUGUST saw only a very slight increase in retail sales in the Eurozone, data from Eurostat revealed yesterday. Retail sales volumes edged up 0.1 per cent between July and August, the data showed, after an equal increase between June and July. Volumes in austere Portugal grew 2.8 per cent, while troubled Spain saw 2.1 per [...]
Nuclear blow as Areva fails to bid for site October 3, 2012 BRITISH nuclear power project Horizon has attracted just two bidders, after Areva and China Guangdong Nuclear Power (CGNP) dropped their joint approach, a source said yesterday. Offers rolled in on Friday for Horizon, which was put up for sale by RWE and E.ON in March. But Areva confirmed yesterday that it and CGNP did not [...]
EU sets deadline on Glenstrata deal as UBS backs mega tie-up October 3, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Commission has set a deadline of 8 November to decide on the £56bn mega-merger of Glencore and Xstrata, it said on its website yesterday. Glencore, which filed the notification on Tuesday, is edging closer to a merger with Xstrata. Earlier this week Xstrata directors recommended the tie-up to shareholders, who are set to [...]
Third largest bank from Russia prices stock for London listing October 3, 2012 PROMSVYAZBANK took another big step towards listing shares in London yesterday, setting the price range for its initial public offering. Russia’s third largest bank is joining the flood of firms from the country rushing to the UK, following larger compatriot Sberbank which listed in London last month, and coming ahead of VTB, another bank looking [...]
Timeweave tells shareholders to accept £50m Joe Lewis offer October 3, 2012 TIMEWEAVE, the company that part owns betting shop horse racing channel TurfTV, yesterday recommended shareholders accept a buy-out offer from billionaire Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis. Aim-listed Timeweave received the 22p per share offer from Lewis’s fund management business Mayfair Capital Investments in September, valuing Timeweave at just under £50m. The offer had initially been [...]
