Regulators force review on Citi August 12, 2009 US regulators have told Citigroup to enlist external consultants to decide whether its management is suitably qualified to lead the ailing bank out of the financial crisis. The news puts increased pressure on the group’s management and board, as chief executive Vikram Pandit comes under fire from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and his fellow [...]
Nestl profits fall two per cent August 12, 2009 The world’s biggest food company Nestlé yesterday said first half profits fell by two per cent thanks mainly to a strong Swiss Franc. The group said its net profit was SFr5.1bn (£2.9bn) in the first half of 2009, down from SFr5.2bn in the same period last year. But sales grew by 3.5 per cent, stripping [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 12, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES BHP CALLS FOR MARKETS TO SET IRON ORE PRICESBHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, has made a plea for the “emotion and anxiety” to be taken out of the iron ore business with a shift to market-based pricing like oil or coal. The plea by Marius Kloppers, chief executive of BHP, came a [...]
COLOURFUL WORLD OF CHRISTINA DOMECQ August 11, 2009 EVERYONE wants a piece of colourful entrepreneur Christina Domecq. Since her SpinVox voicemail-to-text conversion company appeared in 2003, Domecq has run the full gauntlet of whimsical public opinion – first championed by venture capitalists, then hounded by critics, and now slated by past and current employees. Don’t get me wrong, Domecq still has plenty of [...]
CITY EYE August 11, 2009 The City sprawls out in the sunshine below the balcony at the top of Tower Bridge
Big Brother in the Square Mile raises legal issues August 11, 2009 THERE is nothing so British as fear of Big Brother. And perhaps, not without reason – the UK has 20 per cent of the world’s CCTV cameras. But the latest fear is being spied on at work. City firms have begun to import state-of-the-art tactics to keep a close eye on employees, and it is [...]
A BONUS CAN BE A RIGHT August 11, 2009 SPEAKER’S CORNERROBERT JAMES WASHINGTONASSOCIATE, HOGAN & HARTSON PEOPLE who have lost their jobs as a result of the current recession might not like it, but as the reports of banking profits last week suggested, bonuses are back. Or in any case, they will be soon. This bonus season, though, PR might dictate that some firms [...]
Undervalued peso poised to benefit from US recovery August 11, 2009 GIVEN the poor state of Mexico’s economy, you might think that its currency, the peso, would be suffering. Hit hard by global recession and falling oil prices, the real economy is expected to shrink by 5.5 per cent in 2009 while the country’s industrial production is contracting month-on-month. And even the country’s growing tourist industry [...]
Cash calls up, dividends fall August 11, 2009 UK COMPANIES raised more capital than they paid out in dividends in the first half of 2009, according to research to be published by Capita Registrars today. The Dividend Monitor will show that falling profits have led firms to pay out just £28.3bn in dividends in the period, nine per cent lower than in the first [...]
YEN RECOVERY BAD NEWS FOR JAPAN August 11, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT NO country in the G20 has suffered more from the global recession than Japan. Although relatively low compared to the rest of the industrialised world, the country’s unemployment rate remains at 5.4 per cent, the highest rate of joblessness in more than five years and the second worst in [...]
