News Corp faces revolt over Murdoch re-election October 9, 2011 AN influential shareholder advisory firm has urged investors to vote against the re-election of Rupert Murdoch’s sons onto the News Corp board. Glass Lewis told investors they should “carefully consider the nature of the relationship” of board members to the Murdoch family to ensure they are fully independent. James and Lachlan Murdoch will face a [...]
Krawcheck in line for $6m payout as BofA pays off ousted execs October 9, 2011 BANK of America will pay $11m (£7m) to ousted executives Joe Price and Sallie Krawcheck – a large payout at a time when banks face protests over pay, but smaller than the eight-figure packages some executives received before the financial crisis. Krawcheck – a former Citigroup executive who came to Bank of America in 2009 [...]
Rothschild in Bakrie shares sale drama October 9, 2011 FINANCIER Nat Rothschild faces further uncertainty over the Bakrie family’s stake in Bumi, the London-listed mining company he created, as the troubled Indonesian shareholder looks to repay or restructure its debt. The Bakrie family, which owns a 47 per cent stake, could be forced to sell a significant stake in Bumi, after shares fell below [...]
Bumi weighed down by family’s financial past October 9, 2011 WHEN Nat Rothschild decided to team up with the Indonesian billionaire Bakries last year to form coal mining company Bumi, there were concerns that the family’s past financial dramas could weigh heavily on sentiment towards the group. The Bakrie family’s announcement last week that its lenders Credit Suisse had called in a $1.3bn (£840m) loan [...]
Weale grants backing to QE October 9, 2011 SENIOR official Martin Weale launched a valiant defence of the Bank of England’s latest dose of quantitative easing yesterday, arguing that the move would not push up inflation without helping growth. Yet the Bank’s former leading hawk, Andrew Sentance, attacked the move dubbed QE2, and said the institution’s credibility was at risk. “One of the [...]
Building societies hit back over ratings downgrade October 9, 2011 BUILDING societies have hit back after some of the sector’s smaller players came off worst in a mass downgrade of British lenders. The Building Societies Association said the verdict by Moody’s, as part of a downgrade of 12 British institutions, reflected the removal of an implicit guarantee of Treasury support for mutuals in the event [...]
Q&A: HOW DOES THE EFSF WORK? October 9, 2011 Q. WHAT IS THE EFSF? A. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is the region’s bailout fund, underwritten by members of the Eurozone. It currently has €440bn at its disposal, but that is due to be boosted to €780bn once all 17 member states have ratified changes to the fund agreed on 21 July. Q. [...]
SLOVAK SULIK STUMBLING BLOCK TO EFSF October 9, 2011 Richard Sulik, leader of Slovakia’s libertarian Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, confirmed yesterday his party will reject the extension of the European financial stability facility (EFSF) at a crunch vote tomorrow.
E&Y: Risk of recession is one in five October 9, 2011 THERE is a one in five chance that the Eurozone will go back into recession for the next two years, according to an analysis by Ernst & Young released this morning. The looming threat of a credit crunch coupled with political indecision means that the region could well see its economy shrink two per cent [...]
French banks deny capital raising plan October 9, 2011 TOP French banks BNP Paribas and Société Générale have denied that they could seek to raise a combined €11bn (£9.47bn) as part of a broader European bank recapitalisation plan. A French newspaper had reported that the country’s first and second largest banks by market cap would seek about €7bn and €3-4bn respectively. A BNP spokeswoman [...]
