Europe’s plan to rescue Spanish banks will be an expensive mistake, our City panel warns June 18, 2012 OUR PANEL of City professionals has given a resounding thumbs down to Europe’s bailout of Spanish banks, with fewer than one in ten believing the rescue will work. Our Voice of The City panel, run with PoliticsHome, showed that close to 84 per cent of respondents think the €100bn bank bailout plan announced last week [...]
World Bank chief Zoellick says Europe doing too little too late June 17, 2012 EUROPEAN leaders dealing with the sovereign debt crisis have done too little, too late, outgoing World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said yesterday, warning that Europe risks losing influence and developing nations now face increasing market uncertainty. “European politicians always act a day late and promise one euro too little. Then, when it gets tight, they [...]
Greek election buys time for smaller Cyprus June 17, 2012 GREECE’S election has pulled its smaller neighbour Cyprus back from the precipice – for now – according to experts. “Not Armageddon just yet. Armageddon put off for another day,” said Fiona Mullen, a Nicosia-based economist for the consultancy firm Sapienta, who estimates Cyprus would need €10bn or more if Greece were pushed out of the [...]
Credit Suisse boss: no need for new shares June 17, 2012 CREDIT Suisse has no plans to issue new shares after the Swiss central bank called on it to improve its capital base, chief executive Brady Dougan was quoted as saying yesterday. “Of course I am disappointed. FINMA has given us directions as to how we should strengthen capital. We are fulfilling those,” said Dougan. “Even [...]
Insurance firm Markel is first tenant for the Walkie-Talkie June 17, 2012 INSURANCE FIRM Markel today confirmed it has become the first tenant to sign up to Land Securities’ and Canary Wharf’s iconic City skyscraper, the Walkie-Talkie. Markel said it will take up 51,000 square feet on two upper floors of the 690,000 sq ft tower, relocating from its current head offices at 49 Leadenhall Street. It [...]
Trial run of Olympics working routines highlights problems June 17, 2012 LONDON businesses that tested alternative working arrangements last month in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games suffered problems with technology and travel arrangements, a survey showed. A “stress test” in which more than 100 companies asked staff to experiment with remote working or changes to their journeys failed to dispel concerns about how smoothly the [...]
Investor wrath moves to IAG and Heritage June 17, 2012 THE UK’s shareholder spring could this week give way to a sizzling shareholder summer, as newly emboldened investors keep up the pressure on company boards. The biggest potential for fireworks this week comes on Thursday when the board of struggling Heritage Oil faces investors, disappointed at the two-thirds reduction in the company’s value over the [...]
Regulatory hurdles are the next challenge in HKEx bid for LME June 17, 2012 HAVING secured a recommendation from the board of the London Metal Exchange (LME) for its £1.4bn takeover last Friday, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) will now be shifting its focus to winning approval for the deal from regulators. Though the deal is subject to shareholder approval – with a vote for major investors including [...]
Coalition starts a £1bn move to update Trident June 17, 2012 BRITAIN will order the first reactor for a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines this week as part of a £1bn contract with Rolls-Royce, a defence ministry source said yesterday, in a move that could spark a fresh dispute within the coalition government over the Trident programme. The deal, including an 11-year refit of the UK’s [...]
RAG set to scrap Evonik float again as market turmoil bites June 17, 2012 THE OWNERS of German chemical company Evonik are set to scrap plans for what could have been Europe’s biggest initial public offering in more than a year, four people familiar with the matter said yesterday. A string of share flotations across the globe have been blown off course by the volatility of financial markets in [...]
