France denies plan to rescue ailing banks September 25, 2011 FRANCE yesterday “categorically denied” any suggestion it was planning to recapitalise its troubled banking sector. The Journal du Dimanche Sunday newspaper, citing government and banking sources, said the French state had considered injecting between €10bn (£8.73bn) and €15bn of public money into its banks at a secret meeting at France’s Treasury on 11 September. Asked [...]
Three trillion euros short of a picnic September 25, 2011 THE craze for “ring-fencing” troublesome entities has hit Europe. Thanks to Sir John Vickers, we now have some readymade jargon for measures that sound like solutions, but don’t mean much in practice. And we were treated to a flurry of such nonsense over the weekend with headlines hailing the arrival of a rescue package worth [...]
City: Labour leadership is unimpressive and being disingenuous on spending cuts September 25, 2011 ED Miliband and Ed Balls – the double act at the top of the Labour party – are less impressive than the duo they replaced, according to the City A.M / PoliticsHome Voice of the City panel. Almost three quarters of panellists (72 per cent) said Ed Balls, Labour’s shadow chancellor, was less impressive than [...]
UBS shake-up may take three years September 25, 2011 THE SHAKE-UP of the investment bank at UBS will take two to three years to complete, its chairman said yesterday after the resignation of Oswald Gruebel. Kaspar Villiger has asked interim chief executive Sergio Ermotti to quicken a scaling back of the investment bank so details can be revealed at the bank’s investor day on [...]
End of the journey for fast car fanatic September 25, 2011 IN EARLY 2009 Oswald Gruebel was retired and basking in the glow of leading Credit Suisse’s drive to shed its image as an accident-prone and under-achieving bank. Fast forward two-and-a-half years and his name has lost its lustre, to be forever associated with that of Kweku Adoboli, whose alleged fraud cost UBS $2.3bn (£1.5bn). It [...]
BAE poised to cut 3,000 jobs across Britain September 25, 2011 AEROSPACE giant BAE Systems is this week set to announce plans to cut up to 3,000 jobs as the cuts to government defence budgets take their toll. Britain’s biggest manufacturer said it had informed staff that it is reviewing operations “across various businesses” to make sure the company is performing “as effectively and efficiently as [...]
Gatwick owner prepares bid for Spain’s airports September 25, 2011 THE OWNER of Gatwick and London City Airports has joined forces with the operator of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and German insurer Allianz SE to bid for Madrid and Barcelona airports. Global Infrastructure Partners, the $5.6bn (£3.6bn) investment fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, is understood to be putting together a bid [...]
BOEING DELIVERS FIRST DREAMLINER 787 September 25, 2011 Boeing will deliver its first 787 Dreamliner jet to Japan’s All Nippon Airways today, following three years of delays in the ambitious project to build the new lightweight passenger plane. The Dreamliner is made using more carbon fibre instead of the traditional aluminium, allowing it to be more fuel efficient than rival air carriers. Boeing, [...]
Number two set to replace Spirit’s Dyson September 25, 2011 THE SECOND in command at pubs company Spirit looks set to step up to the top job when Ian Dyson (pictured) quits as chief executive. Mike Tye, currently deputy chief executive, is tipped to take over when Dyson – who has been at the firm for just one year – departs. It is understood that [...]
Asda’s bid for Iceland warms up with Barcap September 25, 2011 ASDA appears to have moved closer to a bid for frozen food chain Iceland by lining up backing from Barclays Capital. It comes after Asda, Britain’s second-largest supermarket, brought on board advisers from Lazard in June to help it put together an offer. Iceland’s current owner, the resolution committee of collapsed bank Landsbanki, needs to [...]
