City watchdog slaps HSBC after $1.9bn US fine December 11, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) yesterday announced a clampdown on HSBC, following the news that the British bank will pay $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to US authorities over money laundering. The City watchdog said it had told the bank to introduce a number of measures “to ensure that all parts of the HSBC Group are in compliance [...]
Greek debt buyback attracts €31.8bn bids December 11, 2012 GREECE’S debt buyback attracted bids totalling €31.8bn (£25.7bn), a senior Eurozone official said yesterday, but the average price paid for the bonds was slightly above expectations meaning the total debt reduction will be less than planned. A banker involved in the operation confirmed the figures, saying that the average price paid for the bonds purchased [...]
Red tape detail forces Northern Rock to repay £270m in interest December 11, 2012 THE TAXPAYER-funded arm of Northern Rock will have to pay £270m back to customers, after a regulatory technicality means borrowers’ interest payments were not legally required. Around 152,000 Northern Rock loans made in 2008 are not valid, the chancellor told parliament yesterday, because the newly state-owned lender failed to include certain compulsory information in letters [...]
Bumi board is set to hear findings from Macfarlanes December 11, 2012 THE BOARD of London-listed miner Bumi is due to meet this morning to hear the initial findings from City law firm Macfarlanes on alleged financial irregularities at Indonesian arm Bumi Resources. The report, first commissioned in September, is understood to be concerned with several development assets in Indonesia. At the meeting, the board could also [...]
London leads collapse in GB home owners December 11, 2012 THE PERCENTAGE of home-owners in England and Wales plunged between 2001 and 2011, according to census figures out yesterday. There were 14.85m home-owners across the two countries, according to the 2011 census, carried out by the Office for National Statistics. The rise of around 7,000 came despite a 1.71m increase in the number of households [...]
OBR denies that it made life easier for George Osborne December 11, 2012 BUDGET watchdog boss Robert Choate yesterday told MPs that far from tweaking processes to help the chancellor, the changes make budget targets harder to meet. Changing its model for the output gap when it was spitting out “implausible” numbers was the right thing to do, Robert Choate, who heads the Office for Budget Responsibility, maintained at [...]
London Kcell book near full December 11, 2012 KAZAKHSTAN-based mobile telecoms group Kcell has its book largely covered ahead of closing on its London float today, according to sources close to the situation. It is understood orders are flooding in from Kazakhstan, with the possibility that the book could be oversubscribed. The news will provide a welcome boost to London’s struggling market for [...]
US Treasury to make $7.6bn in sale of remaining AIG shares December 11, 2012 THE US Treasury’s sale of its remaining stake in American International Group (AIG) will fetch $7.6bn (£4.7bn), bringing the government a total profit of $22.7bn from its crisis-era bailout of the insurer. The share offering will close the chapter on one of the most politically contentious rescues of 2008, which ultimately gave AIG up to [...]
Do you rent or own the property where you live? December 11, 2012 KEVIN LAWRENCE PEMBROKE MANAGING AGENCY I own my house with a mortgage. I’m very lucky that I got a fixed rate mortgage at two per cent above base so it’s very easy. I’m probably overpaying my mortgage right now! ABDUL DAKHIL DAIWA SECURITIES I rent. It’s difficult to buy first time, and I’ve only been [...]
Costa buzzing as fury over rival boosts sales December 11, 2012 CONSUMER anger over the tax affairs of its main rival was highlighted as a reason for better-than-expected sales figures from Costa Coffee yesterday. The UK’s largest coffee chain saw a 7.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 29 November, Costa’s parent company Whitbread said yesterday. Commentators put some of this [...]
