Strict Germans may derail Draghi’s plan to aid Spain July 30, 2012 EUROPEAN Central Bank boss Mario Draghi has a tough series of negotiations ahead if he is to persuade German policymakers to back his plan to use the ECB to ease some of the pressures on the troubled Spanish government’s finances. Draghi last week pledged to do “whatever it takes” to keep the euro together – [...]
Olympics are a great success but won’t solve economic crisis July 30, 2012 FOR those of us lucky enough to have been at the Olympic Park in Stratford yesterday or at one of the other venues, the scale and success of the Games was a wonder to behold. Tens of thousands of happy spectators from all over the world, brandishing flags of an extraordinary range of home nations, [...]
Greek leaders agree most cuts to save €1.5bn July 30, 2012 POLITICAL leaders in Greece have agreed on most of the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and are now eyeing pension and wage cuts to find the final €1.5bn of savings still needed, a source close to the talks said yesterday. Greece must find savings worth €11.5bn for 2013 and 2014 to satisfy its increasingly [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 30, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Pension Corp frees up £300m in Munich Re deal Pension Corporation, the specialist insurer that private equity entrepreneur Edi Truell set up to take on pension schemes’ risks, has offloaded £300m worth of exposure to one of the world’s biggest reinsurers. AIG boosts its annuity sales as rivals pull back American International Group [...]
TfL: Steer clear of London Bridge July 30, 2012 Commuters should avoid London Bridge station today, Transport for London has warned. Up to 50,000 spectators are expected to use the station on their way to equestrian events at Greenwich Park, making the area extremely busy throughout the day, and platforms one to six for National Rail services to Kent will be exit-only between 6pm [...]
Doubts over Merkel’s decisions July 30, 2012 Only one third of Germans still believe Angela Merkel is making the right decisions over the Eurozone debt crisis, according to a survey published yesterday, pointing to a steep erosion in domestic support for the chancellor over the last weeks. The survey by YouGov found 33 per cent in favour of her stance but 48 [...]
Chairmen see Eurozone future July 30, 2012 Two-thirds of FTSE 100 chairmen surveyed by Korn and Ferry Whitehead Mann expect the Eurozone will hold together for at least another 12 months, despite growing tensions in Spain and the failure of March’s bailout to put the Greek economy on a path to recovery. However, 87 per cent have considered a collapse as part [...]
Banks wait for details of Libor inquiry terms July 30, 2012 BANKS will today find out just how rigorous the investigation into the Libor scandal will be, as the Treasury is this morning set to announce the terms of Martin Wheatley’s review into the key interbank interest rate. Traders at banks including Barclays were found to have falsely entered low or high interest rates to the [...]
KPMG: Finance shake-up could mean end of universal banking July 30, 2012 THE ENTIRE concept of universal banking could be thrown out as a result of public pressure for transparency and clarity in the sector, KPMG warns today. Investors must also learn to cope with the new environment, the auditor said in a report. It argued banks are unlikely to regain the level of profits seen before [...]
RBS admits a large fine for rate fixing may be on the way soon July 30, 2012 RBS, the majority government-owned bank, is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over the Libor scandal, boss Steven Hester admitted yesterday. It comes a month after Barclays was fined £290m for manipulating the market by entering false rates. “RBS is one of the banks tied up in Libor. We’ll have our day in [...]
