King says Bank of England can afford to miss inflation target October 9, 2012 THE BANK of England must sometimes veer away from its two per cent inflation target, governor Sir Mervyn King said last night. Consumer price inflation has stuck above two per cent for 67 of the last 76 months, reaching levels as high as 5.2 per cent. “It would be sensible to recognise that circumstances in [...]
Retail investors rush for shares in Direct Line October 9, 2012 STOCKBROKERS yesterday reported a rush for Direct Line shares as individual investors attempt to grab a stake in the insurer ahead of tomorrow’s flotation. Online broker Interactive Investor said that it had seen with substantial interest in the offering, the first London floatation open to individual investors since Standard Life in 2006. The firm said [...]
Merkel trip sees riot police and protesters clash October 9, 2012 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel faced angry protests yesterday during her first visit to crisis-struck Greece since the summer of 2007. Tens of thousands of irate Greeks took to the streets of Athens in protests against austerity measures that are imposed as conditions for the Eurozone state receiving ongoing tranches of its bailout. Merkel has maintained [...]
EU says financial transaction tax now has support of 11 members October 9, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Union has gained support from enough member states to get a proposed tax on financial transactions off the ground, it said yesterday. Eleven EU countries endorse the introduction of a so called Tobin Tax according to tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta, clearing the nine votes required to legally launch the initiative. “We see that [...]
Draghi says Eurozone debtors cannot avoid painful austerity October 9, 2012 THERE is no alternative to fiscal consolidation, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi said yesterday in a speech to the European Parliament. “It is without doubt that the process of fiscal consolidation in the short term will depress,” Draghi said. “But what’s the alternative?” Draghi went on to describe deficit and debt levels and “unsustainable”, but said [...]
ING sells out to Barclays in UK retail bank exit October 9, 2012 ING Direct, the Dutch financial group, yesterday sold its £16.5bn mortgage and savings book to Barclays at a loss of £168m, as it bid farewell to the UK retail banking market. The deal, which is a major boost for Barclays’ retail base, will see Barclays take on 1.7m ING customer savings accounts with deposits of [...]
Don’t read too much into shift of focus – it started under Bob October 9, 2012 BARCLAYS’ purchase of ING Direct UK is being seen by many as yet another sign that the bank’s focus, under new chief executive Antony Jenkins, has shifted firmly to its retail arm. Jenkins’ early speeches have certainly been littered with regulator-pleasing pledges to shape up, putting him at the front of a queue of UK [...]
Court hears UBS trader hid risk exposure of $12bn October 9, 2012 ALLEGED rogue trader Kweku Adoboli exposed Swiss bank UBS to billions of dollars of hidden market risk for weeks on end, peaking at nearly $12bn on 8 August last year, a London court heard yesterday. Adoboli disguised his true trading position with fictitious hedging trades that made it look as though the apparent risk to [...]
PM says Plan B is not answer to gloomy data October 9, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S resolve to cut the deficit will not be tested by dismal new IMF economic forecasts, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday, instead suggesting the government would attempt supply-side reform to bring growth. The IMF said the government should delay some spending cuts scheduled for next year if economic data failed to improve, but [...]
Leveraged buyout deals send Carlyle Group fund values up October 9, 2012 ALTERNATIVE fund manager the Carlyle Group boosted the value of its funds by three per cent last quarter, it said yesterday, stemming a drop in value seen in the previous quarter. The investment house, which floated on the Nasdaq in May, found comfort in its traditional private equity offering, increasing leveraged buyout fund values by [...]
