ABI struggles to save UK insurers from US rules August 25, 2010 UK life insurers could be hit with tens of millions of pounds of costs if they are forced to comply with tough regulations on tax evasion being drafted by US authorities. Companies such as Aviva, Old Mutual and Prudential would be forced to report the tax details of their US account holders every year under [...]
M&A activity saves FTSE from fourth day of losses but volumes remain thin August 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended a three-session losing run yesterday, helped by a spate of corporate takeover activity, though trading was thin. HSBC said it was in talks to buy up to 70 per cent in South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, Nedbank, in which insurer Old Mutual has a controlling stake. HSBC added 0.8 per cent [...]
RSA bid for Aviva units “not dead” August 20, 2010 IGNIS Asset Management, an institutional shareholder in both Aviva and RSA, said a deal between the two insurers remained possible although RSA would have to raise its bid proposal for some Aviva units. Ignis owns roughly 0.5 per cent of Aviva’s share capital and around 1.5 per cent of RSA’s share capital. RSA said it [...]
Expect to pay £8bn for Aviva’s general arm, UBS warns RSA August 18, 2010 RSA Insurance would have to crank up its offer for Aviva’s general insurance business by nearly two thirds to win the backing of the larger company’s shareholders, a UBS analyst said yesterday. UBS put the highest valuation yet on Aviva’s casualty and property operations in the UK, Ireland and Canada, suggesting RSA would have to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CRIMINAL GANGS TARGET INSIDER DEALING Organised criminals in the UK are becoming increasingly involved in financial frauds including insider share dealing that they see as lucrative and low risk, investigators have warned. A long-term trend of prosecutions in the US has shown the same shift by crime gangs to more sophisticated frauds. FUNDING [...]
Banks and miners push FTSE to its highest close in a week August 17, 2010 FINANCIAL stocks and commodity companies pushed Britain’s top share index up for a third session by the close on Tuesday, as fears about a global economic slowdown abated and raw material prices gained. The FTSE 100 ended up 74.45 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 5,350.55, its highest close in a week. Miners were firmer, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 17, 2010 LLOYDS Morgan Stanley places an “underweight” rating on Lloyds banking group. It says first-half figures were reassuring but warns of lower improvement ahead, with a slowing down of its book re-pricing. The bank faces a funding challenge, with the world facing austerity measures and a predicted housing dip by the end of 2011, it believes. [...]
Resolution posts profit and eyes new acquisitions August 17, 2010 Insurance buyout vehicle Resolution said on it would hunt out further acquisitions in a consolidating sector, as it posted an interim profit compared to a loss a year earlier. Resolution made an operating profit before tax of £203m for the six months ending June, compared to a loss of £7m a year earlier. Its earnings [...]
Aviva told to deliver or see itself split up August 16, 2010 INVESTORS piled pressure on Aviva to come up with a credible alternative to being broken up yesterday as the insurer formally knocked back rival RSA’s “unacceptable” £5bn approach for its general insurance business. Shareholders are disgruntled at Aviva’s decision not to consult them before rejecting the offer for the group’s property and casualty operations in [...]
RSA August 16, 2010 RSA’S offer was politely described as “speculative” when it was leaked on Friday. In fact, it looked downright odd: a £5bn proposal, made out of the blue from one chairman to another, swiftly rebuffed. But no-one in Aviva’s boardroom will be feeling comfortable this morning. RSA has skilfully turned the nascent takeover battle into a [...]