ING in talks to sell car lease unit June 20, 2011 Dutch financial services group ING said yesterday it has put its car leasing business up for sale, in a deal reportedlyworth €4bn (£3.5bn). ING is in the throes of a huge restructuring, forced on it as a condition of its €10bn state bailout in the 2008 financial crisis. It has sold several assets already to [...]
Langbar boss gets twelve months in jail June 20, 2011 THE one-time boss of an Aim-listed cash shell has been jailed for 12 months for making misleading statements that ended up losing investors millions of pounds. Stuart Pearson of Langbar International (formerly Crown Corporation Limited) falsely claimed that the firm had assets worth £365m, both in stock market statements and in talks with investors ahead [...]
US regulators sue RBS and JP Morgan June 20, 2011 THE US credit union regulator filed lawsuits yesterday against Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan Chase, alleging misrepresentation of investment vehicles backed by mortgages. The National Credit Union Administration said the lawsuits seek damages in excess of $800m (£493m) and are related to the failure of five corporate credit unions. The lawsuit against RBS [...]
DUNCAN SMITH FENDS OFF PENSIONS REVOLT June 20, 2011 PENSIONS secretary Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) averted a revolt over retirement ages last night, after MPs approved the second reading of a government bill to raise the age a woman can take her pension to 66 by the year 2020, by a majority of 70, following a debate in the House of Commons. More than 170 [...]
UBS in hiring spree in China June 20, 2011 SWISS bank UBS has hired more than 1,000 new employees for its investment banking operations in Greater China in the past 18 months. UBS is keen to expand in China and Asia to tap growth potential in the region. The new hires are in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and include around 100 employees to [...]
RIM top boss leaves company June 20, 2011 BLACKBERRY maker Research In Motion has lost its second marketing executive in four months, highlighting the difficulties RIM faces in keeping pace with innovative market leader Apple. Brian Wallace, who headed RIM’s digital marketing efforts, has taken a job at Samsung, one of the companies that is stealing RIM’s smartphone market share. The departure brings [...]
CDS confusion grips market June 20, 2011 EUROZONE efforts to avoid a “credit event” in Greece have thrown the region’s credit default swap (CDS) market into confusion and ramped up the cost of insuring the sovereign’s debt. According to data from Markit, Greek CDSs are now the most expensive in the world, with a five-year swap costing 2,000 basis points, meaning it costs [...]
Spain kicks off €2.6bn sale of airport assets June 20, 2011 SPAIN has kicked off the privatisation of its airports and related assets by appointing RBS to advise on its sale. The mandate includes offloading the state’s 49 per cent stake in AENA Aeropuertos, a holding company established for the privatisation that is valued at around €5bn (£4.4bn). Among AENA’s assets, which include 47 airports, are Madrid’s Barajas [...]
Ireland welcomes new bailout fund rule change June 20, 2011 A TECHNICAL change in the rules of the EU’s new permanent bailout fund announced yesterday will make it easier for Ireland to return to the markets for cash, according to Irish finance minister Michael Noonan. EU policymakers had previously discussed giving the €500bn (£441bn) European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a permanent bailout fund that will be created in [...]
Aggreko adds £30m to fleet spend budget June 20, 2011 AGGREKO, the temporary power supplier that provides energy for the Glastonbury festival, yesterday announced plans to boost investment in its fleet of equipment by £30m. The higher spending, which comes on top of a £70m increase announced in April, is intended to soothe fears that principal rival APR could steal market share. Despite reporting accelerated [...]
