Commerzbank profits wiped out by Greek debt August 10, 2011 Commerzbank has seen its second quarter profits destroyed by a 760m euros (£676m) write-down of its Greek debt. Net profit fell by 93 per cent at Germany’s second largest bank from the same period a year ago to 24m euros. Earlier this month the UK’s RBS also wrote down around $1bn of Greek loans, as [...]
Britain’s in crisis: the real causes of chaos on streets August 10, 2011 FEAR. Debilitating, widespread fear. The country held to ransom by feckless youths. Thousands of shocked Londoners cowering in their homes, with many shops, banks and offices shutting early. I cannot remember anything like it; the atrocities of the 7/7 terror attacks, the shock from 9/11 and the IRA’s repeated terrorist attacks had a chilling, devastating [...]
Fed at war over fresh stimulus August 9, 2011 THE FEDERAL Reserve last night pledged to keep US interest rates at their “exceptionally low levels” until at least mid-2013, in a bid to stimulate the ailing US recovery. Yet three dissenters broke ranks from chairman Ben Bernanke (pictured) and his senior colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee. Richard Fisher, Narayana Kocherlakota, and Charles [...]
Riots spread north as London clamps down August 9, 2011 DISORDER and rioting spread to several cities across the country last night while Scotland Yard put London into lockdown, trebling the number of police on the streets and promising tough law enforcement, including the possible use of plastic bullets, to tackle violence. Although London appeared to be more peaceful than the three previous nights, sporadic [...]
Politicians fly home to a Britain in crisis August 9, 2011 POLITICIANS were last night travelling back from their summer holidays, after the Prime Minister announced he would recall parliament in response to the London riots. David Cameron, who himself only returned to Britain in the early hours of yesterday morning, said he was recalling MPs so they could “stand together in condemnation of these crimes”. [...]
Britain’s in crisis: the real causes of chaos on streets August 9, 2011 FEAR. Debilitating, widespread fear. The country held to ransom by feckless youths. Thousands of shocked Londoners cowering in their homes, with many shops, banks and offices shutting early. I cannot remember anything like it; the atrocities of the 7/7 terror attacks, the shock from 9/11 and the IRA’s repeated terrorist attacks had a chilling, devastating [...]
WHAT CAN THE POLICE DO TO RESTORE ORDER? August 9, 2011 Q.CAN MORE PEOPLE COMMITTING CRIMINAL ACTS BE DETAINED? A.For every arrest made, the police have to follow certain procedures, including presenting the detainee at a police station and justifying the arrest – taking officers off the street for several hours. The government can suspend procedures to keep officers active, but will be reluctant to be [...]
RIM faces calls to ban Messenger as social media comes under scrutiny August 9, 2011 BLACKBERRY-maker RIM yesterday faced calls to disable its Messenger service as the role of technology and social media in the riots continued to come under scrutiny. Tottenham MP David Lammy said BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is “one of reasons why unsophisticated criminals are outfoxing an otherwise sophisticated police force”. The service, which is popular with teenagers, [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD BBM BE SHUT DOWN? August 9, 2011 CHE SIDANIUS | BANK OF ENGLAND “I don’t think that shutting them down is the right solution. It would not prevent kids doing silly things. In a democracy it would be bad precedent and breach freedom of speech.” CHRIS SEVENOAKS | EMERALD “It would be an infringement on everyone’s civil liberties to shut the social [...]
Lending dries up between Euro’s banks August 9, 2011 BANKS in Europe appear increasingly reluctant to lend to one another, dangerously mirroring scenes last witnessed in the credit crisis of 2008. So far the strains have been more pronounced in Europe rather than the dollar market, with EURIBOR interbank lending spreads over overnight index swaps having widened to post-financial crisis levels and more banks [...]
