Cameron calls for BBC to fix row over Savile October 22, 2012 THE BBC yesterday came under further pressure to address allegations its bosses covered up sexual abuse claims levelled at the late Jimmy Savile, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying it had serious questions to answer. Cameron waded into the row as the editor of the BBC’s Newsnight current affairs show, Peter Rippon, stepped aside after [...]
Moody’s cuts Spanish regions October 22, 2012 ■ Moody’s last night cut the debt ratings of five Spanish regions, after maintaining its rating on the country at one level above junk last week. Andalucia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalunya and Murcia have seen their ratings lowered by one or two notches thanks to “very limited cash reserves… and their significant reliance on short-term [...]
FSA relaxes Solvency II timetable October 22, 2012 ■ British regulators have given insurers more time to get ready for Europe’s strict new Solvency II capital regime, anticipating that fights over the final shape of the rules could delay their introduction by two years. The head of the FSA’s insurance unit Julian Adams said firms will have until the end of 2015, rather [...]
Hague calls for re-think on EU October 22, 2012 ■ William Hague will today claim that the British public have never been less enthusiastic about the European Union. “People feel that the EU is a one way process, a great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments,” Hague will say in Berlin. “That needs to change.” He will restate the government’s commitment to [...]
Permira to be new parent of Ancestry.com October 22, 2012 PRIVATE equity group Permira has splashed out $1.6bn (£1bn) on buying US-listed genealogy website operator Ancestry.com. The firm will take Ancestry private at $32 per share, a 10 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price. Ancestry’s chief executive Tim Sullivan and chief financial officer Howard Hochhauser will keep most of their shares in the firm [...]
Yahoo beats expectations in first results of Mayer regime October 22, 2012 YAHOO’S quarterly earnings came in well above expectations yesterday, in the first set of results since ex-Google executive Marissa Mayer took the helm at the troubled technology firm in July. Yahoo posted net income of $177m (£111m) in the third quarter, excluding a $2.8bn one-off gain from the sale of half its stake in Chinese [...]
Daily Mirror hit by four phone hacking claims October 22, 2012 THE PHONE hacking scandal that brought down the News of the World threatened to pull in Mirror Group Newspapers yesterday, after four individuals reportedly issued High Court claims against the firm. Former England football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson and three others have filed claims alleging phone hacking at The Daily Mirror during Piers Morgan’s time as [...]
Bank plans to hire operating officer in 2013 October 22, 2012 THE BANK of England will appoint a chief operating officer for the first time next year, it announced yesterday, in order to ease the strain on Sir Mervyn King’s successor as governor when the Bank assumes its broadened role in the financial sector. The new executive will run the Bank on a day-to-day basis, the [...]
Dudley gets back his seat at the table October 22, 2012 JUST over four years ago, Bob Dudley left Russia in something of a hurry. Then boss of the firm’s TNK-BP tie-up with AAR – the consortium of oligarchs who yesterday agreed to sell out to Rosneft – Dudley spent the next five months attempting to run the joint venture from a secret location, as the [...]
Advisers BP’s tie-up with Rosneft October 22, 2012 A whole host of investment banks have been involved with the sale of BP’s stake in TNK-BP. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a financial adviser to Rosneft, with Craig Kennedy, vice chairman of global energy and power at BAML, acting at the lead on the deal from BAML. He has been involved with the [...]
