Spanish banks must slash jobs for bailout cash November 28, 2012 FOUR Spanish banks have agreed to downsize radically in return for a huge injection of public money, after the European Commission approved the restructuring plans yesterday. Between them the banks will receive a €40bn (£32.2bn) recapitalisation boost, but must slash jobs and shrink their balance sheets by up to 60 per cent as part of [...]
City’s bonuses safe from EU cap for now November 28, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Parliament yesterday postponed its key vote on capping bank bonuses, putting its decision back from December to March as its members (MEPs) try to agree what type of cap to consider. The delay means bonuses are safe for at least another year. MEPs had hoped to approve the cap quickly in a bid [...]
Greece names banks on key debt buy back November 28, 2012 GREECE’S debt buy back plan, a key element of the cash-strapped country’s bailout deal, will be voluntary but must succeed, finance minister Yannis Stournaras said yesterday. In his first major speech since a deal earlier this week to shave about €40bn (£32.2bn) off the country’s debt pile, Stournaras said the offer would be attractive to [...]
Italy’s Pashi ups state aid plea November 28, 2012 BANCA Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third biggest lender, yesterday increased its request for state aid by €500m (£404m) to up to €3.9bn, citing possible capital concerns due to past financial structured transactions. In a statement Monte dei Paschi said its board had approved the issuing of special bonds to the Treasury for up [...]
Private sector loans decline November 28, 2012 BANK lending to businesses fell again in the Eurozone in October, according to data published yesterday by the European Central Bank (ECB). Despite market sentiment improving on the back of the ECB’s plans to buy the bonds of struggling governments like Spain’s, loans to the firms fell 1.8 per cent, accelerating from the 1.5 per [...]
France says has buyer for Arcelormittal site November 28, 2012 THE French government has found an industrialist willing to invest €400m in ArcelorMittal’s steelworks in northeast France, a minister said yesterday. Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg told lawmakers that the interested party was a private investor from the steel industry. ArcelorMittal has so far said that it wants to sell the furnaces but not the entire [...]
Train pain for season ticket commuters November 28, 2012 COMMUTERS should brace themselves for season ticket price hikes of up to six per cent in January, despite the government’s intervention to stem inflation-linked fare rises. Passengers from Canterbury will be worst hit in percentage terms, with the price of an annual season ticket to London rising 5.9 per cent to £4,860 in the new [...]
TfL hopes to push Overground onto key suburban rail routes November 28, 2012 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) remains optimistic that it will get the go-ahead to take control of key suburban rail routes early next year. Howard Smith, chief operating officer for TfL’s rail operations, told City A.M. that he is “hopeful of coming to some conclusions in the next few months” following discussions with the Department for [...]
Floor price for alcohol will hit poor hardest November 28, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday unveiled plans to introduce minimum prices for alcohol, despite concerns that such a move will penalise ordinary drinkers. The home office proposals include a ban on multi-buy promotions and a minimum unit price of 45p in England and Wales. As a result a one litre bottle of Gordon’s gin – currently available from [...]
New broom Mark Carney has a lot of paperwork to sweep up November 28, 2012 FROM the forthcoming report of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards to a possible resignation letter from Paul Tucker: Mark Carney has an unenviable reading list before he sets foot in Threadneedle Street as the new Governor of the Bank of England. If he wants a genuine cold-towel moment ahead of his arrival, however, he [...]
