Buoyant central London is in an economic world of its own December 10, 2012 IF you work or live in central London, you could be forgiven for not believing that the UK remains stuck in a nasty stagnation, let alone at risk of a triple-dip recession, as Vince Cable intimated yesterday. The shops are full, the tubes jam-packed and new skyscrapers are being built; Fortnum and Mason, the department [...]
US Treasury to sell final stake in insurer AIG December 10, 2012 THE US Treasury is selling its remaining stake in insurer American International Group (AIG), bringing an end to government ownership of the company four years after it was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy. In a statement last night, the Treasury said it launched an underwritten public offering for its remaining 234.2m shares of common stock. [...]
What the other papers say this Morning December 10, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Warning on cost of shares for rights George Osborne’s “shares for workers’ rights” initiative could end up costing Britain £1bn a year in lost revenues, the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned, at the same time as the government battles to clamp down on tax avoidance schemes. The long-term potential cost of the [...]
Rothschild says plan is backed by 11 investors December 10, 2012 BUMI co-founder Nat Rothschild said yesterday he had secured the backing of 11 investors for his counter proposal to restructure the London-listed miner. Bumi yesterday confirmed it had received an updated letter from Rothschild to counter the Bakrie brothers’ proposal from October to divorce themselves from the London miner. Rothschild’s updated proposal is understood to [...]
Metro Bank clashes with City regulator over new chairman December 10, 2012 METRO Bank is set for another showdown with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over its plans to appoint its founder Vernon Hill as chairman. The FSA forced Metro Bank into appointing Anthony Thomson instead of Hill as chair in 2010, when it became the UK’s first new High Street bank for decades. Hill has since [...]
Pace in Google talks on buying Motorola unit December 10, 2012 PACE, the British digibox manufacturer, has launched a bid to take over the set-top box division of Motorola, the electronics giant owned by Google. Since Motorola Home is believed to be worth far more than Pace, any deal would constitute a reverse takeover under British law, Pace said, as it suspended trading in its shares. [...]
Hedge fund’s new man to put a leash on costs December 10, 2012 HEDGE fund Man Group, the largest listed alternatives asset manager on the FTSE, yesterday turned the reins of the business over to its chief operating officer in a bid to drive home a cost cutting agenda and turn the faltering outfit around Emmanuel “Manny” Roman, who is the former co-chief executive of Man subsidiary GLG [...]
Man needs more than a new head to spark Roman revival December 10, 2012 WHEN he looks back over his five years as chief executive of Man Group, Peter Clarke will probably want to focus solely on his first 18 months in charge. Stepping up from finance chief in early 2007 to lead the hedge fund that he had joined in 1993, Clarke must have thought he had an [...]
More banks set to be dragged into EU’s rate rigging scandal December 10, 2012 THE European Union is expected soon to accuse several banks of attempted collusion in the setting of lending rate benchmark Euribor, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people briefed on the probe. Barclays has already acknowledged trying to rig the Euribor rate, and other banks are likely to be pressed by regulators in the United [...]
Economists fear QE is fuelling asset bubbles December 10, 2012 A BUBBLE in risky assets could keep inflating for at least another year before bursting and causing chaos, analysts warned yesterday. Quantitative easing (QE) is designed to raise the price of government bonds and reduce the return on such safe assets, pushing investors into other markets to find yield. But that could cause a dangerous [...]
