AAA rating always for US February 8, 2010 US TREASURY secretary Tim Geithner has insisted that the country “will never” lose its top credit rating, despite a rising budget deficit. Geithner said that in times of economic crisis, international investors will carry on buying US Treasury bonds and dollar-denominated assets because they are regarded as a safe investment. The Obama administration has predicted [...]
Obama confident on recovery February 8, 2010 US President Barack Obama yesterday said the US economy has turned the corner and resumed growth. “We are seeing the corner turn on the economy growing again,” he said in a interview with CBS news. Obama said companies were beginning to hire again, but “it’s not happening as fast as we’d like.”
BT boosts competition in cables February 8, 2010 BT is poised to open up its underground cable ducts so that competitors can run their own high-speed broadband networks through the telecoms company’s infrastructure. This would allow them to lay their optical fibre cables without the cost of digging up pavements. The move marks an important policy shift by BT.
Dubai World bill $6.2bn so far February 8, 2010 Dubai has pumped $6.2bn (£4bn) into Dubai World over the past 12 months and said yesterday it is stands ready to inject “considerably more money” into the conglomerate, whose debt woes sent shockwaves through financial markets late last year. The Dubai Financial Support Fund was set up last February to aid indebted state-run corporations.
Heat is on at RBS as bonus verdict looms February 8, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has locked horns with the Treasury in ongoing talks over the size of its bonus pool, which is expected to hit up to £1.4bn this year despite the bank’s heavy losses and the angry populist backlash against weighty City payouts. Chief executive Stephen Hester has repeatedly stressed the importance of [...]
Toyota Prius likely to be recalled over brake fault February 8, 2010 TOYOTA is expected to recall thousands of Prius hybrid cars in Japan and the US in the next few days to fix a fault with the brakes. The Japanese carmaker has already recalled more than 8m vehicles worldwide with faulty accelerator pedals. The company’s president, Akio Toyoda, publicly apologised for the problems on Friday. The [...]
Barnier pledges fair financial overhaul for EU February 8, 2010 MICHEL Barnier has pledged to take a balanced approach to overhauling financial regulation in Europe, City A.M. can reveal. The French politician, who has been appointed EU internal markets commissioner, faces a vote tomorrow to ratify his role along with 25 other commissioners. He has made a series of special pledges in a bid to [...]
Darling aides used officials to hurt Tories February 8, 2010 THE Tories yesterday accused Alistair Darling’s special advisers of using neutral civil servants to help mount party political attacks. Memos released under the Freedom of Information Act show that aides to Darling asked Treasury officials to cost Conservative policies to help discredit them. Francis Maude, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, has written to cabinet [...]
Barclays chief set for grilling February 7, 2010 BARCLAYS chief executive John Varley is expected to echo president Bob Diamond’s defence of big banks when he appears before the Treasury Select Committee tomorrow. Varley, who will be quizzed as part of the committee’s “too important to fail” inquiry into the banking sector, will insist that large institutions with the ability to buy and [...]
Payzone cuts debt by sale of stake to Duke Street February 7, 2010 PRIVATE Equity firm, Duke Street, has acquired a majority stake in Payzone after investing €45m (£39m) into the mobile phone top-up and cash machine group. The debt-for-equity deal reduces Payzone’s debt from €320m to €82m and sees the formation of a newly established company, funded by Duke Street and its lenders. Duke Street will hold [...]
