Olympus loses three top staff November 24, 2011 THREE executives of scandal-hit electronics maker Olympus resigned with immediate effect yesterday ahead of a boardroom showdown with ousted chief executive Michael Woodford. Former president and chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa; former vice-president Hisashi Mori and internal auditor Hideo Yamada, tendered their resignations from the board. All three were blamed for playing critical roles in the cover-up [...]
Merkozy to seek closer fiscal rules November 24, 2011 LEGAL changes may be on the way to force overspending nations back into line, after crisis talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti yesterday. The three want to change European treaties to make sure states only run small deficits in future. “Each country has its [...]
Dexia taps emergency funds November 24, 2011 TROUBLED Franco-Belgian bank Dexia is drawing on emergency liquidity funds, a banking source said yesterday, as its host governments rush to finalise a long-awaited deal to provide guarantees on its debt. A French finance ministry source said an interim agreement to guarantee Dexia’s financing would be signed “within days” and would be based on the [...]
Last German spurt as the economy slows into 2012 November 24, 2011 GERMAN business confidence rose in November, defying economists’ predictions that the economy was weakening rapidly, the IFO business index revealed yesterday. The Federal Statistical Office also confirmed that GDP grew at a healthy 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, boosted by strong consumer spending. However, the economy is set to be hit by falling [...]
STRIKES AGAINST PORTUGUESE CUTS November 24, 2011 PROTESTS against austerity measures swept Portugal yesterday, as the government struggles to control its budget deficit in line with the terms of the IMF and EU’s bailout. Public transport and government services ground to a halt across much of the country. Although windows were broken in three tax offices, police reported that the protests remained [...]
Belgium’s King urges coalition talks continue November 24, 2011 BELGIUM’S King Albert II has told Elio Di Rupo, the man tasked with forming a government, that he cannot resign and must press ahead with coalition talks. Worries over the country’s deficit are intensifying political crisis in Belgium, which still lacks a government following indecisive elections in the summer of 2010. Yields on 10-year Belgian [...]
Star exec at Arbuthnot ditches City November 24, 2011 CITY broker Arbuthnot has lost the rising star chief executive of its wealth management business, Dean Proctor, who has quit to move to Qatar. Proctor (pictured) will leave the bank in the first quarter of next year to take an executive role at Qatari lender Commercialbank, in a move that his colleagues said was a [...]
Banks see Eurozone risk November 24, 2011 BRITAIN’S banks are drawing up contingency plans in case there is a disorderly break-up of the Eurozone or exit of some countries from the single currency, a top UK regulator said yesterday. Andrew Bailey, deputy head of the Prudential Business Unit at the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA), said UK banks do not have large [...]
StanChart head of FICC leaves November 24, 2011 STANDARD Chartered has lost its global head of fixed-income, currency and commodities as departures continue to rise in investment banking amid a worsening financial market. Singapore-based Remy Klammers, a high-profile hire from Lehman Brothers back in 2008, is expected to begin his own startup, two sources with knowledge of the move said. A bank spokesman [...]
Intesa chooses new chief exec November 24, 2011 INTESA Sanpaolo yesterday picked a top manager at insurance group Allianz as its new chief executive to steer Italy’s biggest retail bank through a worsening sovereign debt crisis that has reduced its access to funding. Enrico Cucchiani, head of Allianz’s Italian unit, succeeds Corrado Passera, who left the bank to join Italy’s new government. He [...]
