UBS gives its bosses £34m bonus packet March 15, 2010 SWISS bank UBS handed its senior executives SFr55m (£34m) in bonuses and awards in 2009, a large increase on 2008’s figure despite a third consecutive year of losses. Including base salaries, total compensation for the Zurich-based institution’s 13 board members reached SFr68.7m – more than seven times the sum paid out a year earlier. UBS [...]
Investec launches music team March 15, 2010 Investec private bank has launched a specialist music and entertainment team to handle the affairs of wealthy people in those industries, such as artists, managers and agents. The move comes after Investec found many music and entertainment workers were struggling to manage their affairs to the extent that some could not even secure a mortgage [...]
Hedge fund recovery in full swing March 15, 2010 The fund of hedge funds industry shrank by 10 per cent in 2009 but the trend has begun to go into reverse, according to the latest InvestHedge Billion Dollar Club survey. The research found firms with more than $1bn (£665m) in assets under management in funds of funds now control a combined amount of $625bn [...]
Activist Myerson loses board struggle at D1 Oils March 15, 2010 BRIAN Myerson, the activist shareholder who has made a name for himself by giving boards a hard time, yesterday got a touch of his own medicine when a lack of shareholder support caused him to quit his job as chairman of D1 Oils. Myerson, who had been chairman since 2008, tried to gain the support [...]
First person arrested on Tarp charge March 15, 2010 The former president of New York’s privately held Park Avenue Bank was yesterday arrested and charged with being the first person to attempt to steal from US government bailout funds in the financial crisis. A 10-count criminal complaint accused Charles Antonucci of devising “an elaborate round-trip loan transaction” that he told others was his own [...]
CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS March 15, 2010 CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS SHOWBIZ and the somewhat more drab world of the law aren’t usually professions that share column inches, but a City immigration lawyer is doing his level best to change that perception. Philip Trott, head of immigration at Bates Wells & Braithwaite solicitors, has been enjoying more than his usual share [...]
Allied Irish in capital raising March 15, 2010 Allied Irish Banks launched a bond exchange programme yesterday, which analysts said could contribute up to €400m (£363m) towards its hunt for fresh capital. Allied Irish and rival Bank of Ireland have been buying back cheap debt to raise capital, which will be depleted in a €80bn “bad bank” exercise to start this month. Allied [...]
BP to take majority stake in oil sands operation in north Alberta March 15, 2010 BP will take a majority stake in the Terre de Grace oil sands property owned by closely-held Value Creation for an undisclosed price, in the British oil major’s second oil sands deal in a week. Value Creation yesterday said BP agreed to develop and operate the 185,000-acre Terre de Grace block in northern Alberta. The [...]
British banks facing further disappointments on revenues March 15, 2010 UK banks will likely see more revenue disappointment before rebuilding their profitability, Seymour Pierce said yesterday, adding that consensus expectations for banking income growth were far too optimistic. The brokerage said it was on average 10 per cent below consensus revenue expectations for 2012 for the sector, with the greatest disappointment likely at Royal Bank [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 15, 2010 PROVIDENT FINANCIAL Collins Stewart has maintained its recommendation on Provident Financial at “sell”. It said that Provident Financial was trading at the bottom of the trading range and the impact of new consumer policies set out by the government may result in a reduced earnings forecast and may pose a threat to the dividend. Collins [...]
