By Osborne seeks EU backing over bank bonuses November 24, 2010 THE European Commission has formally agreed to consider a request from chancellor George Osborne seeking support for common rules on the disclosure of bankers’ bonuses in a move that will delay the introduction of such pay regulations in the UK. Osborne is seeking to link the introduction of rules on transparency in the UK – [...]
Resolution ditches Citi November 24, 2010 RESOLUTION, the life funds group run by Clive Cowdery, yesterday ended its broking relationship with Citigroup following the summer departure of Andrew Thompson, one of the bank’s most senior corporate brokers. Sources said that Resolution was “very much a relationship driven company” and that Thompson’s departure to Deutsche Bank was bound to make a difference [...]
Blackstone makes offers for two petrol station companies November 24, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Blackstone has tabled bids for the UK petrol businesses of Total and Murphy Oil Corporation, it was reported yesterday, after the firm’s attempts to buy power producer Dynergy were blocked by shareholders. Blackstone is in talks to buy the forecourt operations of French energy group Total and Murphy subsidiary Murco Petroleum, according [...]
Private equity bidders circle Terra Firma’s Odeon cinema chain November 24, 2010 Terra Firma, the private equity owner of record group EMI, is understood to have received a number of approaches for its Odeon cinema chain. One approach is said to have come from private equity group BC Partners, which lost out to Doughty Hanson in the recent bid battle for cinema group Vue Entertainment. Canada’s Omers [...]
UBS is sued in $2bn case by Madoff truste UBS is sued in $2bn case by Madoff truste November 24, 2010 THE trustee seeking to recover money for defrauded Bernard Madoff investors has sued UBS for more than $2bn (£1.2bn), accusing it of collaborating in the imprisoned swindler’s massive Ponzi scheme. UBS was accused of sponsoring foreign feeder funds that sent client money to the once-respected money manager, lending them “an aura of legitimacy” while shielding [...]
Freud tries to go it alone as seeks split from Publicis November 24, 2010 INFLUENTIAL pubic relations executive Matthew Freud is trying to wrest back control of his agency from Publicis – the French communications group that he sold a 50.1 per cent stake to in 2005. The two are locked in talks to separate, a source confirmed to City A.M. last night, but are struggling to agree a [...]
BP put speed ahead of safety, says US report November 24, 2010 BP made a series of decisions while drilling its doomed Macondo well that saved time but added risks prior to its massive Gulf spill, according to a White House oil spill commission document. The chart compiled by the commission’s investigative team outlines 11 unnecessary actions taken by BP and its partners in the lead-up to [...]
Barclays sets up new office in Hong Kong November 24, 2010 BARCLAYS Wealth has set up a booking centre in Hong Kong, the firm announced yesterday, as part of its plans to quadruple assets under management and double its number of private bankers in Asia over the next four years. An undisclosed number of UK staff will temporarily relocate to help set up the booking centre, [...]
Vodafone in £25m buy-back as faces $1bn bill for India license November 24, 2010 VODAFONE yesterday continued its consolidation drive as it bought back around £25m of its shares. The world’s largest telecoms firm by revenue said it bought the shares through JP Morgan Cazenove at prices between 166.8p and 163.4p. Since 16 September Vodafone has bought 458m shares at a cost, including fees, of £764.05m, which it says [...]
Russia eyes sale of VTB for $3bn November 24, 2010 RUSSIA is ready to divest a stake in state-controlled bank VTB for at least $3bn, its first deputy prime minister said yesterday. Russia is seeking to raise some $59bn through a state privatisation programme by 2015, to plug a hole in the budget and speed up growth ahead of the 2012 presidential election. “Our position [...]