Rivals set to gain as Comet nears collapse November 1, 2012 THE FUTURE of Comet is hanging by a thread after the troubled retailer called in administrators yesterday, sending its website crashing and shares in rival electricals retailers soaring. OpCapita, the private equity firm which acquired Comet for £2 less than a year ago, confirmed it has filed its intention to appoint administrators with the view [...]
Auditor calls payments to SFO ex-chief irregular November 1, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) made several “irregular” payments to outgoing chief executive Phillippa Williamson, according to the results of an audit into the events surrounding her April departure from the financial crime watchdog. Investigators deemed £422,000 worth of payments benefiting Williamson to be “irregular”, due to a lack of legally required approval from the [...]
World’s freest economies managed to avoid banking crisis November 1, 2012 IT is usually claimed that the financial crisis was caused by excessively free markets. Those of us who disagree – and emphasise governments’s role in distorting markets, including by subsidising risk via the moral hazard caused by insane taxpayer guarantees and by fuelling credit and property bubbles via excessively loose monetary policy – are in [...]
The bank’s reports November 1, 2012 The Stockton Review found the Bank of England needs to make changes to improve inflation and growth forecasting It should hire more staff to improve predictions, and make sure to listen more closely to staff’s ideas The Bank should consider giving more information on forecasts to the public And the Monetary Policy Committee should listen [...]
Regulators ask banks to hold more capital November 1, 2012 GLOBAL regulators yesterday said Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase will need to hold the most extra capital of 28 banks considered so large and complex they need an extra buffer to absorb potential losses. The four global banks will be required to hold an extra 2.5 per cent of common equity as a [...]
What the other papers say this Morning November 1, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Israel veto ends PotashCorp merger Israel says it will block Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan’s attempt to buy rival fertiliser Israel Chemicals, derailing a $15bn (£9.3bn) deal to create the world’s largest potash producer. The veto is the latest example of growing resource nationalism, in which governments block foreign attempts to buy mining, oil, [...]
Lloyds to pay out another billion on PPI November 1, 2012 LLOYDS recorded another loss in the third quarter, yesterday setting aside another £1bn to cover soaring payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims. The taxpayer-backed bank recorded a loss of £361m in the three months to September, a solid improvement on the £501m loss in the same period of last year. Underlying profits doubled to £840m [...]
Biggest banks earmark £10bn to cover mis-selling claims November 1, 2012 THE BIGGEST banks have now set aside more than £10bn to cover PPI mis-selling compensation payouts, and analysts believe the total for the industry has smashed the £12bn mark. RBS today sets aside an additional £400m to cover the claims from aggrieved customers, taking its individual total to £1.725bn so far. And analysts believe HSBC [...]
LinkedIn profit double Wall St expectations November 1, 2012 PROFESSIONAL social network LinkedIn last night announced third quarter results that beat Wall Street profit and revenue targets, defying troubles that have afflicted internet rivals Facebook and Zynga. Profits at the jobs network hit $2.3m (£1.43m) in the third quarter, compared to a $1.6m loss in the same period last year. Excluding certain items, profit [...]
Credit Insurance Explained November 1, 2012 JULIE PALMER BEGBIES TRAYNOR The Christmas trading period is a “Russian Roulette” quarter for retailers, Julie Palmer, a partner at law firm Begbies Traynor explains. “The retailer has to decide to what level they are going to stock their stores, which places heavy demand on their cash flows to fully stock if the suppliers won’t [...]
