Direct Line flotation risks only raising £1.5bn for RBS September 13, 2012 CITY banks advising on the initial public offering (IPO) of Direct Line Group, London’s largest share listing this year, have warned that they might only reach a valuation for the insurance group of £1.5bn, half what many have expected. According to banking sources, the syndicate analysts’ valuation range, which is a forerunner of the official [...]
Why Ben Bernanke’s decision to launch QE3 is a bad mistake September 13, 2012 SORRY, but this is not the way to run an economy. There was a case for quantitative easing (QE) at the start of the financial crisis, and conceivably more recently too, to prevent the money supply from collapsing, in the US, in the UK and elsewhere. But not today – and especially not in America. [...]
Tory peer tells coalition to scrap capital gains tax September 13, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT should abolish capital gains tax (CGT), Tory peer Howard Flight claimed in a research paper released by the Centre for Policy Studies yesterday. However, the government must first cut the rate to 25 per cent or less, the report, prepared by Flight and Cambridge post-graduate economist Oliver Latham, says. If it can summon [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 13, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Deutsche Bank urges rivals to share Deutsche Bank is seeking to convince rival investment banks to share markets and trading software in an effort collectively to lower costs for the financial industry. Law firms queue up for FSA panel City law and accountancy firms are jostling for the opportunity to earn bumper fees [...]
Government to make it easier to sack workers September 13, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT will today launch its employment law reforms, with changes designed to make it simpler and less costly for employers to dismiss workers. Measures are expected to include an extension of settlement agreements, where an employee accepts a payment for leaving the company, in an attempt to reduce the number of costly employment tribunals. Time [...]
US embassy unrest spreads in Middle East September 13, 2012 VIOLENT demonstrators protesting against a low budget film depicting the Prophet Mohammed launched attacks on American consulates in Yemen and Egypt yesterday as chaos spread across the Middle East. Over a dozen people were injured in Yemen’s capital Sanaa as crowds attacked the US embassy to protest against a movie clip posted on YouTube mocking [...]
Fears deal may fall apart rocks defence firms September 13, 2012 SHARES in both BAE and EADS tumbled yesterday, amid fears the £29bn mega-merger could still fall apart because of competing demands. Among the biggest sticking points are whether the proposed aerospace giant can operate without political interference, as BAE demands, and what the cost savings of the tie-up would be. BAE Systems closed 7.29 per [...]
What are your thoughts on the bae/eads merger? September 13, 2012 ROGER JOHNSTON | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH The advanced merger talks clearly have good industrial logic with BAE now feeling over-exposed to defence and EADS clearly looking to gain a foothold in the US. The key question is whether this deal could kick off a wave of consolidation in Europe. BENJAMIN FIDLER | DEUTSCHE BANK Whilst [...]
Advisers BNP Paribas September 13, 2012 THERE are a handful of advisers working on the deal, many of whom have enjoyed long relationships with both BAE Systems and EADS. On this particular deal, BAE is being advised by Morgan Stanley, Gleacher Shacklock and Goldman Sachs, with UBS acting as corporate broker. Evercore, Pirella, Lazard and BNP Paribas are working for EADS. [...]
Fitch says EU banking union gives stability September 13, 2012 RATING agency Fitch yesterday came out in favour of plans to hand supervision of all Eurozone banks to the European Central Bank (ECB), arguing it would ensure long-term stability in the region. The plans, which would enable the ECB to shut down failing banks or grant licences to new entrants, would reduce bank default risk [...]
