Italy cracks down on short-sellers July 10, 2011 ITALY’S stock market regulator Consob yesterday rushed through tough new rules on short-selling after Friday’s wave of panic selling of bank shares unsettled markets and sparked fears of contagion. In a desperate bid to prevent the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis from engulfing Italy, Consob ruled that from today until 9 September market operators will have [...]
US debt talks hit a setback July 10, 2011 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama was forced back to the drawing board yesterday after Republicans pulled out of a bipartisan plan to cut $4 trillion (£2.5 trillion) from the government deficit over the coming decade. House of Representatives speaker John Boehner told the Democratic president he would only pursue a smaller, $2 trillion package, similar to [...]
Media in turmoil as BSkyB bid falters July 10, 2011 THESE are bad times for David Cameron, who has been engulfed by the hacking scandal and is faltering in the opinion polls – but they are even worse for the media industry, which is now undergoing what will eventually be recognised as its very own Lehman Brothers moment, courtesy of a small but despicable minority [...]
Jain poised for DB throne July 10, 2011 DEUTSCHE Bank is nearing the end of a long search for a new chief executive, with Anshu Jain, head of the UK investment bank, understood to be on the cusp of being appointed co-head of the group. After a weekend of crunch board talks, Jain is likely to be one of two candidates to replace [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES VIRGIN SEEKS US ROLE Virgin Trains is vying to play a role in the privatisation of the US rail industry in a move that could see it become the operator of the lucrative 457-mile route from Washington to Boston. Virgin, which already runs the profitable West Coast railway line between London and Glasgow [...]
Australia unveils carbon tax July 10, 2011 Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday revealed plans to tax carbon emissions from the nation’s worst polluters, with the largest emissions trade scheme outside Europe. The government said 500 companies including steel and aluminium manufacturers would pay a A$23 (£15) per tonne carbon tax from next year, rising by 2.5 per cent a year, moving [...]
Southern Cross investor update July 10, 2011 Debt-laden care home Southern Cross will this week give investors an up-date on its recovery plan, with Sky News reporting yesterday that it may wind itself up or put itself into run-off mode.. Southern Cross, which recently asked its landlords to take a cut in rents, refused to comment on the report, which added that [...]
Doughty bid snubbed by Aegis board July 10, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS in Aegis Group have been urged to put pressure on the firm’s board, after its directors allegedly snubbed a competitively-priced approach for its market-research unit Synovate. Aegis is alleged to have ignored an approach from Doughty Hanson, the private equity owner behind the Vue cinema chain. Instead, the company has entered into exclusive talks [...]
Corporate optimism is dropping sharply July 10, 2011 CORPORATE optimism in the UK has dropped at the fastest rate since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, according to a Deloitte survey of chief financial officers released this morning. Yet strong balance sheets and the availability of low-cost capital have seen risk appetite hold up at close to a three and a [...]
Key Murdoch man Hinton in firing line July 10, 2011 RUPERT Murdoch’s right hand man could become the highest-profile casualty of the scandal engulfing News Corp. Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton looks set to be dragged into the firing line after it emerged a report was commissioned in 2007 – on his watch – showing that phone hacking may not have been restricted to [...]
