Eurotunnel looks at high speed rail bid June 25, 2009 GROUPE Eurotunnel, the firm that runs the Channel tunnel is “looking carefully” at bidding for the UK’s only dedicated high-speed rail line. Executive chairman Jacques Gounon said he was interested in bidding for the High Speed 1 line, which carries trains at 300kph on the 108km between the tunnel and London’s St Pancras station. High [...]
AIG to float two units to pay back Fed June 25, 2009 AMERICAN International Group (AIG) is to float two of its international life insurance divisions to fund the repayment of $25bn (£15.3bn) in loans it took from the Federal Reserve. The insurance giant, which has received $173.3bn in government bailouts since the onset of the financial crisis, said it would launch initial public offerings for both [...]
Darling plans strong FSA June 25, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling is set to unveil a new Banking Act which will strengthen the Financial Services Authority (FSA), in a move that flies in the face of Bank of England governor Mervyn King’s calls for the central bank to be given greater powers. Darling wants the FSA to assume the role of overseeing financial [...]
ABN Amro man vanishes with a pair of shotguns June 25, 2009 THE FORMER chief financial officer of ABN Amro has gone missing and is believed to have taken two shotguns with him. Police have issued an urgent call for information as to the whereabouts of Huibert Boumeester, who was reported missing after failing to show up for a meeting with headhunters on Monday. Boumeester was at [...]
LSE axing 120 in restructure June 25, 2009 THE LONDON Stock Exchange Group (LSE) is negotiating the redundancy of up to 120 staff, with at least 60 London-based employees to be affected, as the new chief executive Xavier Rolet acts on his promise to make the group operate more cost effectively. The cuts, which began on Wednesday, will mostly involve marketing and customer [...]
Tanstaafl: the new buzzword for finance June 25, 2009 THERE are few things I hate more than banning things. But one advantage of the FSA’s decision to prevent Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) from taking commissions for the sale of investment products, pensions and life assurance is that their costs will become much more obvious. From 2012, anybody who uses an IFA will have to [...]
NEW YORK REPORT June 25, 2009 US stocks rallied yesterday as investors were relieved that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke withstood congressional questioning without problems. Retailers and home builders led stocks higher for much of the session, helped by a suprising profit increase from retailer Bed Bath & Beyond. Stocks extended gains shortly before midday as investors took Bernanke’s hearing in [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 25, 2009 THE FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 per cent yesterday, led by banks after a trading update from Standard Chartered failed to excite investors while commodity stocks were also under pressure. The index closed down 27.41 points at 4,252.57, after gaining 1.2 pe rcent in the previous session. Banks shaved most points off the index after Asia-focused [...]
Adviser fees to be revised June 25, 2009 FINANCIAL advisers could be barred from charging commission on the products they sell, under proposals unveiled by the Financial Services Authority yesterday. The City watchdog, led by chief executive Hector Sants, said in its Retail Distribution Review (RDR) that financial advisers should charge customers an up-front fee, rather than taking commission from the companies whose [...]
BA STAFF AGREE TO WORK FOR FREE June 25, 2009 EIGHT HUNDRED British Airways (BA) staff will work for nothing next month, after the struggling airline convinced 7,000 employees, or 17 per cent of its workforce, to take a pay cut. Chief executive Willie Walsh, who earns £735,000 a year, said the staff would save the airline around £10m. Walsh has already agreed to work [...]
