HSBC debuts ultra-low rate on home loan September 2, 2009 HSBC has waded further into the mortgage market by offering a new deal at 1.99 per cent for borrowers who can stump up a 40 per cent deposit. The rate, the lowest ever for a home purchase or remortgage and a substantial discount on the bank’s standard variable rate (SVR) of 3.94 per cent, will [...]
UKrift with US over Lockerbie September 2, 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown was last night facing a massive diplomatic rift with the US over the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to die at home in Libya. Brown has now denied “double dealing” behind the freeing of the terrorist.
Broker fined over insider dealing September 2, 2009 A City stockbroker has become the first to be fined individually for not stopping a client who was insider trading. Mark Lockwood, 29, was fined £20,000 for putting through a client’s order to sell Aim-listed oil and gas exploration company Amerisur, even though he had reason to believe it amounted to insider dealing.
Cerberus locks up funds September 2, 2009 Cerberus has placed a three-year ban on withdrawals from new hedge funds in a bid to stop the type of large outflows that followed its purchases of Chrysler and GMAC. Hedge funds usually allow investors the chance to take money out every few months, but are now becoming more interested in longer-term investment structures.
Fed to keep policy loose September 2, 2009 A SLUGGISH recovery and continued risks to the economy saw the Federal Reserve hold rates at its August meeting, but said its $300bn (£184bn) Treasury purchase programme would end in October “in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets”. The minutes showed that “most participants saw the economy as likely to [...]
Why Boris is right to fight for the City September 2, 2009 WHENEVER there is a crisis, certain sections of the British establishment revert to type. Rather than vowing to fight back and rebuild our shattered economy, many senior figures have evidently decided that the best we can hope for is to manage decline, post-war style. In a dynamic, forward-looking, optimistic nation, we would be debating how [...]
FSAwill test Lloyds’ plans September 2, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group’s ambitious plans to launch a giant cash call in a bid to reduce its reliance on the government are thought to have been passed to the City watchdog for stress testing. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is understood to have been called in to stress test the plans, to judge whether Lloyds [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES OCH-ZIFF SET TO EARN PERFORMANCE FEES AGAINOch-Ziff, one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world, is set to start earning performance fees again across its $21.7bn (£13.3bn) of funds. The flagship Och-Ziff master fund is up 17.6 per cent this year, meaning it has almost completely recovered from losses incurred in [...]
UK to fight French in bonus row September 2, 2009 EUROPEAN Union finance ministers yesterday agreed to work together to regulate bankers’ pay – but the UK is set to fight plans to cap bonuses. In the run up to the G20 meetings, France and Germany have been drumming up support for the idea of bonus caps, including a targeted tax and a legal maximum [...]
BORIS: I’M CITY’S NEW CHAMPION September 2, 2009 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday took the fight to save the City to Brussels, where he lobbied EU officials over plans to crack down on hedge funds, private equity houses and the alternative investment sector. Johnson met with various MEPs and Charlie McCreevy, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, to highlight the problems contained within the [...]
