FTSE dips on mining and banking while security firm G4S is top faller July 16, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index edged lower in low-volume trade yesterday, led by banks and mining stocks, as concern about the outlook for corporate earnings kept investors cautious. The FTSE 100 ended down 3.7 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,662.43 in volume, just under two-thirds of its 90-day daily average. “Investors are not keen to [...]
G4S leads FTSE lower July 16, 2012 The FTSE 100 was led down by security giant G4S in early trading as the company’s failure to fulfil an Olympic security contract continued to take its toll. G4S retreated by more than eight per cent this morning as chief executive Nick Buckles came under increasing pressure over the fiasco. The world’s second-largest private sector [...]
LIBOR CRISIS SPREADS July 15, 2012 LLOYDS became the latest UK bank to be dragged into the ongoing Libor scandal over the weekend, after the New York Fed made public emails sent by Barclays staff to the US authorities that accuse Lloyds of entering false Libor submissions in mid-2007. A swathe of previously unseen documents also show Bank of England governor [...]
Barclays director who led Libor fixing to face MPs July 15, 2012 JERRY del Missier, the Barclays executive who instructed traders to reduce the bank’s Libor rate submissions, will today attempt to explain his actions to MPs. He will be joined in front of the House of Commons Treasury select committee by three leading officials at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), including Lord Turner, who raised concerns [...]
Goldman Sachs profits set to disappoint as trading slows July 15, 2012 GOLDMAN Sachs is set to record another downbeat set of results tomorrow, a top analyst has warned, with poor profits driven by the weak economic outlook. Barclays’ Roger Freeman believes the banking giant’s second quarter profits will be down 23 per cent compared with the same quarter of 2011. In a research note Freeman warned [...]
KHERAJ IN RACE TO REPLACE BOB DIAMOND July 15, 2012 NAGUIB Kheraj could be in the running to take the top job at Barclays, it emerged over the weekend. The former finance director joins former JP Morgan boss Bill Winters, corporate and investment banking head Rich Ricci and Lloyds’ deputy chairman David Roberts as a frontrunner in the search, which is being conducted by executive [...]
Virgin is ready to take on high street banks July 15, 2012 AIRLINE owners are known for being colourful characters. They have to be, given the lengths they go to make money from air travel amid surging costs, awkward regulations and fears about damaging the planet. In the current climate, the same could be said about bank owners. But Sir Richard Branson is excited at the prospect. [...]
No fear of dead cat bounces here July 15, 2012 EARLY risers were greeted yesterday by a bungee ballet over the Thames. At 7.30am, 16 performers leapt from the Millennium Bridge to touch the water before flying back up. Inspired by a Latin American rite of passage, this hair-raising spectacle was the opening act in a whole day of gravity-defying action commissioned by the Mayor [...]
Shareholders can find a potent ally in activist funds July 15, 2012 THE so-called shareholder spring – in which shareholders have been revolting against the pay of chief executives of major corporations like Barclays, Aviva, and William Hill – is gaining momentum. And activist hedge funds, which pressure public companies to make changes to improve a company’s share price, will increasingly drive this phenomenon. Many regard hedge [...]
Diamond picks top lawyer July 12, 2012 Barclays’ embattled former chief executive Bob Diamond is being represented by top white-collar defence lawyer Andrew Levander over his role in the Libor-fiing scandal. Levander, a partner at the firm Dechert, is one of the biggest names in the defence bar in the United States. He is currently also representing former New Jersey governor Jon [...]