Cities face long recovery time January 17, 2010 It will take “years” for some UK cities and towns to recover from the recession, according to think-tank Centre for Cities. Places with well-educated workforces and high numbers of entrepreneurs such as Cambridge and Edinburgh will bounce back relatively quickly, the report said. But locations including Stoke-on-Trent, Burnley, Newport and Doncaster face much tougher prospects [...]
Pay wall beckons for NYT January 17, 2010 The New York Times is preparing to charge its readers to access its website, according to reports. The newspaper is expected to announce the introduction of a “pay wall” before 27 January when Apple launches its new tablet computer, especially designed for easy newspaper reading. The New York Times is expected to make a decision [...]
Hershey lines up $10bn for Cadbury bid January 17, 2010 IN a gripping twist to the Cadbury saga, Hershey yesterday appeared to be lining up a staggering $10bn (£6.15bn) bank loan. The US confectioner seems determined to fight against the odds to snap up hostile takeover target Cadbury. The loan, believed to be from banks including JP Morgan and Bank of America, would give it [...]
Accountants face new rule to cut risk January 17, 2010 THE world’s Big Four accounting firms must appoint independent non-executives to help reduce the risk of an Andersen-style collapse, under the terms of a new UK governance code published today. The Audit Firm Governance Code – which has been drawn up at the request of the Financial Reporting Council – is the first time the [...]
Chen bank gets initial backing January 17, 2010 THE new banking group being created by former Panmure Gordon analyst Sandy Chen is said to have received letters of intent from two leading institutions who are considering investing a total of £90m in the company. Invesco Perpetual and Perpetual are both said to be keen on taking stakes in the bank, named Walton & [...]
Bankruptcy in the air for JAL January 17, 2010 Japan Airlines (JAL) is expected to file for a pre-packaged bankruptcy tomorrow, similar to that used last year by General Motors. Seiji Maehara, Japan’s transport minister, has said tomorrow will be “X day” for JAL when a rehabilitation plan for the debt-laden carrier is expected to be announced. Speculation has mounted over which of its [...]
Heritage deal key to Tullow January 17, 2010 TULLOW Oil’s decision to pre-empt the sale of Heritage Oil’s Ugandan oil deposit assets to Italian oil group Eni is a brave one, and one that will secure the firm’s position among the giants of the oil world, having grown up from its humble beginnings a quarter of a century ago. Under the terms of [...]
Election2010 January 17, 2010 THERE was confusion over the government’s policy on the 50p tax rate yesterday, after the Treasury appeared to contradict remarks made by Lord Mandelson. When asked about the top rate of tax for workers earning over £150,000, Mandelson said: “I would favour, when financial circumstances permit, for the top rate to come down, just as [...]
Goldman to pay out $22bn to employees January 17, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs will hand out $22bn (£13.5bn) in full-year remuneration this week, dwarfing the $9bn salary pot revealed by JPMorgan on Friday. Staff from both banks will find out what proportion of those pools is allocated to bonuses today amid growing political clamour over high levels of pay. In a move to appease public anger, [...]
Creditors seek to sell off Dubai World loans January 17, 2010 BANK creditors to Dubai World are trying to offload their loans ahead of an expected restructuring of the conglomerate’s $22bn (£13.5bn) debt. It is thought that some of the smaller international banks are keen to reduce their exposure to the debt-laden company quickly. Last week a seller was seeking to offload about $100m of loans, [...]
