Sir Mervyn King paints gloomy picture of UK June 26, 2012 ECONOMIC recovery in the UK is at least five years away, Sir Mervyn King told MPs at the Treasury Select Committee yesterday. The governor of the Bank of England reiterated his backing for £50bn of further quantitative easing, and even kept open the possibility of an interest rate cut. The Bank’s monetary policy committee voted [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Global role for Citi’s Asia consumer head Citigroup has underlined Asia’s growing importance to the bank by naming its consumer banking head in Hong Kong as global head of retail banking, according to an internal email seen by the Financial Times. Jonathan Larsen has been given the task of bringing all of Citi’s [...]
SEC goes after Harbinger’s Falcone June 26, 2012 US securities regulators could file an enforcement action against hedge fund manager Philip Falcone as soon as this week, according to reports. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently authorised the filing of a lawsuit against Falcone, who notified investors in his Harbinger Capital Partners fund about a year ago that he was being investigated [...]
Pamplona buys UniCredit stake June 26, 2012 Private equity fund Pamplona has bought five per cent of Italy’s biggest bank, UniCredit, becoming its second-largest shareholder, in a vote of confidence on the bank’s future in the face of a deepening Eurozone crisis. The stake is worth about €750m at current market prices and is one of the largest investments by a foreign [...]
Best Buy founder mulls buyout June 26, 2012 Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is working with banks including Credit Suisse to explore a private takeover of the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, according to sources close to the matter. Schulze, who set up the firm in 1966 and is its largest shareholder with a 20.1 per cent stake, is in the early stages [...]
Investors cheer News Corp idea to split up firm June 26, 2012 INVESTORS applauded News Corp yesterday, sending its shares up more than eight per cent, after the media giant confirmed it is mulling the prospect of splitting its empire in two. “News Corp… is considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies,” the firm said in a statement. The potential move, [...]
Murdoch’s plan to divide seen as a path to conquer June 26, 2012 THE Sky’s the limit once again for News Corporation. It took the first step in what looks like a bold new strategy to acquire the remaining 61 per cent of BSkyB yesterday. The media giant confirmed that it is “considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies” – understood to [...]
Debt sharing comes with strings attached, Brussels report states June 26, 2012 EUROPEAN Council chief Herman Van Rompuy yesterday released a fresh plan for closer integration, involving eurobonds as the final stage of a fiscal union. “In a medium-term perspective, the issuance of common debt could be explored as an element of such a fiscal union and subject to progress on fiscal integration,” the report said, warning [...]
Cynicism towards crisis meeting takes toll on yields and currency June 26, 2012 THE EURO fell against the dollar and Spanish borrowing costs jumped yesterday, on doubts about the outcome of the European summit starting tomorrow in a bid to mitigate the debt crisis. Yields on Spanish three-month securities hit 2.36 per cent, soaring from 0.85 per cent at the last such auction. Spain auctioned off €3.08bn worth [...]
Europe’s heads clash ahead of crucial summit June 26, 2012 EUROPEAN leaders remain on a collision course ahead of crunch talks that commence tomorrow in Brussels, with little sign of compromise between struggling Eurozone states and countries that may have to foot the bill for more bailouts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was yesterday quoted as having assured her coalition partners that shared debt liability in [...]
