Bond helps to push carmaker Aston Martin to a pre-tax loss October 4, 2012 ICONIC carmaker Aston Martin swung to a loss in 2011 as financing costs overshadowed rising sales, according to the luxury carmaker’s annual accounts. The British firm, taken over by Kuwaiti investors in 2007, posted a pre-tax loss of £33.1m for last year, from a pre-tax profit of £6.9m in 2010. Operating profits fell by three [...]
Ex-UBS trader Adoboli hailed as trading star October 4, 2012 KWEKU Adoboli, the former UBS trader accused of losing the Swiss bank $2.3bn (£1.4bn), was a “star” of the prop trading floor where he worked, a former colleague said yesterday. Christophe Bertrand, one of four traders who made up the desk where Adoboli worked, also said the accused former trader could be “unfriendly, unpleasant, superior” [...]
Standard Chartered denies criticism from biggest investor October 4, 2012 STANDARD Chartered last night insisted that its largest investor, Singapore-based fund Temasek, misunderstood British corporate governance when it abstained from voting on several board members this year. The 18 per cent shareholder is known to favour firms with a large proportion of non-executive board members. “Temasek has assured us that their abstention does not imply [...]
Draghi: Plan to buy bonds has already helped October 4, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) can only maintain its independence by imposing strict conditions on any bond market support for troubled governments, its president Mario Draghi insisted yesterday. The outright monetary transactions (OMT) plan will see the ECB consider buying troubled governments’ bonds, as long as the country agrees a programme of economic reforms and [...]
Fed minutes reveal unease over quantitative easing programme October 4, 2012 SEVERAL senior members of the US Federal Reserve are concerned over the risks surrounding its huge asset-buying stimulus programme, according to minutes of its September policy meeting released last night. The Fed announced last month that it would kick off a third spell of quantitative easing (QE3) at a rate of $40bn (£24.7bn) per month, [...]
Top regulator wants banks to lend more to help economy October 4, 2012 MORE LENDING will help the economy and so help the financial system become more resilient, top regulator Andrew Bailey said yesterday, as he argued in favour of temporarily lower capital and liquidity requirements. The head of the Prudential Business Unit and member of the Financial Policy Committee said that although he wants banks to keep [...]
Rajoy attacked by central bank over fiscal plan October 4, 2012 THE crisis in Spain intensified yesterday, as ministers faced attacks from within and outside government, though a bond auction was successful, and yields edged down. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was undermined by Spanish central bank governor Luis Maria Linde, who rubbished his budget plans, calling the growth and tax revenue estimates overly optimistic. And [...]
IMF to consider social issues in austerity plans October 4, 2012 RESCUE programmes for financially troubled countries should seek to avoid cutting social safety nets too deeply and limit the shock of spending cuts whenever it is possible, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) annual report concluded yesterday. Strains of deep austerity programmes in countries like Greece have prompted the IMF to take more care over the [...]
Greeks clash with police over pay dispute October 4, 2012 GREEK police clashed with protesting shipyard workers who stormed the defence ministry complex in Athens yesterday demanding back pay that they claimed they were owed. About 250 shipyard workers forced their way into the complex and stood in the ministry’s grounds. Scuffles broke out when police surrounded the workers.
Boris reignites row over delay to airport plans October 4, 2012 BORIS Johnson yesterday admitted that a new airport in the Thames estuary would require £30bn of public funding – as he launched an attack on the government for paying “lamentable attention” to aviation policy. The Mayor told business leaders at City Hall that he was “hugely concerned” by the government’s independent review into airport expansion, which [...]
