Beirut funeral leads to violence October 22, 2012 The state funeral in Beirut of an assassinated Lebanese intelligence chief, Brigadier General Wissam al- Hassan, ended in violence yesterday as angry mourners broke away and tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, prompting security forces to shoot in the air and fire tear gas to repulse them. The clashes fed into [...]
Nationwide is mulling its first bank purchase October 22, 2012 THE NATIONWIDE building society is considering buying the 316 RBS branches which are up for sale, joining a small field of potential investors. The building society has expanded by merging with other mutuals over the years – but it is not thought that a building society has ever before acquired a bank, or such a [...]
Banks struggling to cope with volume of PPI misselling claims October 22, 2012 CONTRACTORS hired by banks to process PPI claims are having trouble attracting and keeping staff, according to research published today. Annual staff turnover has reached more than 50 per cent at the outsourced contractors, financial services recruiter BrightPool said, as there are few staff available who are competent at processing claims and can cope with [...]
Credit Suisse and UBS could cut up to 7,000 jobs to slash costs October 22, 2012 UBS is to cut between 3,000 and 5,000 jobs as part of cost-saving measures to offset falling profit, while rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse may announce 1,000 to 2,000 cuts, according to a German newspaper. UBS plans to shed 900 jobs in information technology, alongside a further 2,000 to 4,000 layoffs in its investment bank [...]
Facebook exec checks out to front Tech City October 22, 2012 A TOP Facebook executive has fled the social network to head the government’s Tech City project, in a boost for Number 10’s plans to build a Silicon Valley rival in East London. Joanna Shields, Facebook’s vice president in charge of the social network’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations, will become chief executive of Tech [...]
Germans see Q3 economic growth despite headwinds October 22, 2012 THE GERMAN economy is likely to have grown in the third quarter despite a weak global backdrop, thanks to a strong performance by German industry and robust exports to areas outside the Eurozone. In its monthly report, the country’s Finance Ministry wrote today: “Expansion in German industrial production…likely gave significant growth impetus. Most analysts did [...]
Italian unions reject Monti’s reform plans October 22, 2012 TENS of thousands of Italian unionists protested in Rome over the weekend in a rally against job losses and factory closures. But Prime Minister Mario Monti rejected their calls to change course on tax rises, spending cuts and economic reforms, arguing that the economy should start to show signs of a recovery over the next [...]
UK will return to GDP growth in third quarter October 22, 2012 THE UK bounced back into economic growth in the third quarter, preliminary GDP figures are expected to reveal on Thursday. A jump following lost output during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, combined with the direct impact of Olympic ticket sales, would add 0.7 per cent to GDP, analysts predicted, but some were pessimistic about underlying output, [...]
Romney and Obama neck and neck ahead of November vote October 22, 2012 PRESIDENT Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are tied at 47 per cent support each among likely voters with just over two weeks to go before the US presidential election, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday said. The nationwide poll, which was conducted after last Monday’s presidential debate, reinforced the perception of the [...]
Rajat Gupta faces jail for role in Galleon insider trading case October 22, 2012 RAJAT Gupta will be sentenced this week for insider trading, with prosecutors hoping to pin a ten-year jail term to the former Goldman Sachs board member. Gupta, who is also a former head of management consultancy McKinsey, is set to be sentenced on Wednesday in a Manhattan court. He was found guilty in June of [...]
