S Korean banks downgraded May 20, 2009 RATINGS agency Moody’s yesterday downgraded four of South Korea’s major banks in a move that signals worsening economic strife for the country. Moody’s pointed to rising bad loans and weak capital positions as the reason for the change. It said the banks had “numerous and severe strains on their operating performances compared to other Asian [...]
Fiat confirms bid for Opel as GM splits up May 20, 2009 FIAT, one of the three bidders eyeing German carmaker Opel, confirmed it had submitted an offer for the General Motors’ (GM) owned firm ahead of yesterday’s deadline. Two other firms; Canadian-Austrian car parts group Magna and investment firm RHJ International have also entered formal bids for Opel, which ailing GM has put up for sale [...]
Sir Alan gives bluster boy Ben his marching orders May 20, 2009 IF there’s one place you really don’t want to see Sir Alan Sugar (other than in the role of London mayor), it’s a maternity ward – he’s not famed for his bedside manner. But for this week’s task, he called the teams to University College Hospital to discuss babies, or how to flog stuff to [...]
FACEBOOK TO POKE THE MARKET May 20, 2009 FACEBOOK chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said yesterday he hopes to float his company on the stock market, but that the online social network is “still a few years out from that”. The 25-year old said the company is in no immediate need of fresh capital – despite numerous media reports that it has had talks [...]
Julius Baer splits private banking and asset arms in a bid to unlock value May 20, 2009 SWISS bank Julius Baer is separating its private banking and asset management arms into two “independent entities”, in a bid to unlock value for shareholders. The group said the split will create two groups with a “clear focus”. GAM, which sells funds to London investors from Julius Baer’s St James’s Street office, and Julius Baer [...]
Yell chair to go over Goodwin pension row May 20, 2009 YELL chairman Bob Scott – who as a Royal Bank of Scotland director rubber-stamped Sir Fred Goodwin’s £17m pension – said yesterday that he will not stand for re-election to the directory publisher’s board. Scott, who had been chairman of the Yellow Pages publisher since June 2002, bowed out after shareholders expressed their concern over [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU EXPECT REMUNERATION PROTESTS TO RISE THIS SUMMER? May 20, 2009 CHRIS LESLIE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK“I do – for people lower down the food chain, the targets for getting a bonus are set in stone, but it seems as if the top executives can just change their goals as they see fit. Good performance deserves a good bonus, but it has become commonplace to reward mediocrity.” [...]
SEC proposes giving US shareholders more power May 20, 2009 THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed yesterday giving shareholders greater power to nominate corporate board directors, a process now tightly controlled by company management. Amid a push by investor groups for greater accountability by corporate America, the SEC voted 3-2 to propose two approaches aimed at giving shareholders an easier way to influence [...]
Summer of discontent looms over bonuses May 20, 2009 A SUMMER of discontent over the pay of top executives looked more likely last night, as pressure groups urged shareholders to reject plans to pay vast bonuses for under-performance. Bailed-out bank Lloyds Banking Group and telecoms giant Cable & Wireless are next in the firing line over pay, as both have impending shareholder meetings that [...]
Loss of 17.6bn if banks sold May 20, 2009 TAXPAYERS would make losses of £17.6bn if the government sold out of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at today’s prices, Exane BNP Paribas said yesterday. The figures indicate that any sell-off of the government’s stake in either Lloyds or RBS is unlikely ahead of the next general election. BNP Paribas calculated [...]
