Belgian PM to be EU President November 19, 2009 AFTER months of speculation Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was last night named as Europe’s first President, with trade commissioner Lady Ashton recruited to head up the Commission’s foreign policy. Rompuy – who beat former BritishPrime Minister Tony Blair to the feted role – is Belgium’s centre right Prime Minister, and is credited with [...]
FSA secures new powers November 19, 2009 CITY watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA)will have powers to claw back bank bonuses that breach globally agreed rules on remuneration and force hedge funds to provide data, a draft law published yesterday showed. The draft law’s main provisions were announced during Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech and enforce pledges Britain and other members of the G20 [...]
Blackstone to snap Birds Eye Foods up in $1.3bn cash deal November 19, 2009 Private equity titan Blackstone is set to buy Birds Eye Foods through its portfolio firm Pinnacle Foods. Pinnacle Foods, which already owns pancake mixture company Mrs Butterworths, will pay more than $1.3bn (£700m) for the biggest frozen-vegetable firm in the US. Birds Eye is majority owned by private equity firms Vestar Capital Partners, while New [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW USEFUL WERE THE POLICIES OUTLINED IN THE QUEEN’S SPEECH? November 19, 2009 CHRISTIAN PRYCE WILLIS“I think it is almost as if the Queen’s speech has become insignificant in the grand scheme of things. To me, it was more of a royal event that served as a political mouthpiece for Gordon Brown than anything else of importance.”CHRIS TAGG LOCKTON INSURANCE“From an economic viewpoint, I don’t feel the legislation [...]
Investec bad debts peak over first half November 19, 2009 SOUTH African bank Investec yesterday said profits dipped by a tenth in the first half, though it added confidence is starting to return and that impairments appear to have peaked. Operating pre-tax profit at the group fell 10.7 per cent to £216m over the six months to September, mainly due to a 62 per cent [...]
Santander to launch no-fee current account November 19, 2009 ABBEY-OWNER Santander yesterday unveiled plans to bring a no-fees current account to the UK, as it ups its bid to take on the big four high street banks. The Santander Current Account – which will have no account, overdraft or overseas withdrawal charges – will only be available to customers who take out a mortgage [...]
Retail sales post increase for October November 19, 2009 UK RETAIL sales in October rose at their fastest annual pace in 17 months, according to official statistics released yesterday. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales were up 3.4 per cent compared to the same month last year. But the 0.4 per cent rise on September was less than the 0.7 per cent [...]
Mortgage lending rises five per cent due to time of year November 19, 2009 MORTGAGE lending ticked up by five per cent in October, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), although this was mainly down to seasonal factors. Lending rose to £13.5bn in October, compared to £12.9bn in September, the CML said, although it was still down 27 per cent on the £18.5bn that was lent to [...]
Money supply grows the most in nine months, according to Bank November 19, 2009 THE money supply showed its biggest monthly growth in nine months, raising hopes that the Bank Of England’s £200bn stimulus measures may be working. Official figures released yesterday showed broad money or M4, which is made up of bank and building society deposits and cash, grew by 1.8 per cent in October. That was the [...]
JPM Caz boss is set to quit after buyout November 19, 2009 THE chief executive of the JPMorgan Cazenove joint venture, Naguib Kheraj, is likely to step down after the businesses are fully integrated, it emerged yesterday. Kheraj may discuss an alternative role within JPMorgan at a later date but said he would concentrate on fusing the two banks’ operations in the meantime. A spokesperson said: “It [...]
