Finance regulators tell banks to issue equity to up capital ratios September 27, 2012 BANKS need to raise capital externally if they are to hit regulatory targets and increase lending, rather than shrinking their balance sheets to hit incoming capital requirements, according to the Financial Policy Committee’s (FPC) minutes published yesterday. In the past the key Bank of England committee has told banks to retain earnings and cut pay [...]
Scottish Power owner in talks to sell stake in electricity grid September 27, 2012 SPANISH power firm Iberdrola is negotiating the sale of a minority stake in its UK electricity grid, valued at £4.5bn, as part of its strategy to cut debt. Infrastructure and sovereign funds are the main potential buyers of the grid, owned by Scottish Power, unnamed sources close to the talks said. The sale of up [...]
… but second-quarter current account hits worst ever deficit September 27, 2012 THE UK current account slumped to its biggest ever deficit in the second quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday. Rocketing to £20.8bn, the deficit was not only the biggest recorded in money terms, but also, at 5.4 per cent of GDP, the biggest relative to the size of the economy – [...]
Auditors need to pitch again every 10 years September 27, 2012 BRITAIN’S biggest companies should put their audit contracts out to tender at least once a decade, the Financial Reporting Council said as it set out a major overhaul of its guidance today. The regulator also calls on boards to end the practice of trumpeting positive news in annual reports, while keeping other figures hidden among [...]
Moody’s warns of policy clash between growth and stability September 27, 2012 NEW POWERS for the Bank of England to control banks’ capital buffers should be good for financial stability in principle, ratings agency Moody’s said yesterday. But it warned the Financial Policy Committee’s (FPC) joint mandate to promote stability and growth could lead to friction. “If the FPC lowered capital requirements to stimulate growth in a [...]
NHS hospitals urged to copy City takeovers September 27, 2012 THE NHS should learn from the City takeover process and allow successful health providers to take full control of failing public hospitals, according to research released today by the think tank Reform. Professor Paul Corrigan, the report’s author and a former health adviser to Tony Blair, told City A.M. that the current ad-hoc policy of [...]
Don’t write off the big guns of corporate broking yet September 27, 2012 WHEN Bob Diamond quit Barclays in July, there were many, myself included, who predicted that the bank’s investment business would struggle here on in. Longer-term that may indeed be the case, but the message so far from the world of UK corporate broking is showing a different story. Two big broking mandates, that of Severn [...]
City Views | Do you agree with the reform recommendations? September 27, 2012 MARTIN WHITE FREELANCE CONSULTANT They should be turned over to better hospitals. I think they do a better job than people give them credit for but it could be improved more. DANIEL DUPER SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION “I think failing hospitals would be better off put into the hands of other NHS hospitals that are [...]
Terry fined and banned for racial abuse September 27, 2012 THE Football Association last night banned Chelsea captain John Terry for a total of four games and fined him £220,000 after finding him guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. It was over a four-day disciplinary hearing that the FA came to their conclusion despite a summer case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court clearing Terry of [...]
The Ryder Cup is as good as it gets September 27, 2012 THE Ryder Cup begins today and I can’t help but recall what it felt like for me, as both captain and as a player. As captain, the first day generates a fantastic feeling. There’s nothing that compares to it, it really is as good as it gets, and by some distance. Everything is done and [...]
