Barclays in PPI ban row September 7, 2009 BARCLAYS yesterday launched a legal appeal against a Competition Commission decision to ban the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) alongside financial products. Barclays told the Competition Appeals Tribunal that a point-of-sale ban was not justified by the evidence and also argued that the scope of the definition of PPI imposed by the Commission is [...]
Kraft’s Cadbury bid sparks a flurry of FTSEmerger hopes September 7, 2009 THE leading share index notched back up towards the 5,000-points mark yesterday, after a proposed bid for Cadbury by Kraft raised hopes of a more general pick-up in merger activity and lifted banks and commodity shares. The FTSE 100 rose 1.7 per cent to a close of 4,933.18, up 81.48 points, as it came close [...]
European stocks near 11-month high September 7, 2009 EUROPEAN shares closed higher yesterday, led by UKchocolate giant Cadbury which soared 38 per cent following a £10.2bn bid approach from US company Kraft Foods. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 1.4 per cent to 975.90 points, just 0.3 per cent away from an 11-month closing high. The European benchmark index has [...]
KDB to withhold Lehman details from liquidators September 6, 2009 KOREA Development Bank (KDB) has told the liquidators of Lehman Brothers that it will not disclose all information surrounding a potential rescue by the South Korean business, mooted prior to the US investment bank’s collapse. KDB was in negotiations with Lehman over a $6bn (£3.7bn) investment in the bank last year, but backed away from [...]
OSBORNE TELLS FSA: VETO BANK BONUSES September 6, 2009 SHADOW chancellor George Osborne has told the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to end the era of the “mega bonus” even for banks such as Barclays that were not bailed out. He said all banks are regulated entities potentially underpinned by the taxpayer so they should all face bonus curbs. He stopped short of calling for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 6, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphG20 WILL CURB BANK BONUSESBonuses for bankers throughout the Western world will for the first time be subject to limits and checks as soon as next year after the G20 pledged to embark on an international crackdown on financiers’ pay. Banks will have caps imposed on the size of the bonus pot [...]
BORIS ‘CIRCUS’ TAKES A HIT FROM TREASURY RINGMASTER MYNERS September 3, 2009 BORIS Johnson’s visit to Brussels yesterday looks to have ruffled quite a few feathers in the austere halls of the Treasury, which is now claiming it should be hogging the glory for defending the City’s hedge funds against the EU’s evil draft directive on alternative investment fund managers. Lord Myners, the City minister, yesterday got [...]
BORIS IS A BLONDE BOMBSHELL IN BELGIUM September 2, 2009 LONDON’S flaxen-haired mayor just can’t help making waves wherever he goes. Boris Johnson was in Brussels yesterday, lobbying the European Union over its draft directive on the alternative investment management industry, in defence of the UK’s numerous hedge funds. But though he happily deployed his usual self-deprecatory sense of humour to good effect throughout the [...]
HSBC debuts ultra-low rate on home loan September 2, 2009 HSBC has waded further into the mortgage market by offering a new deal at 1.99 per cent for borrowers who can stump up a 40 per cent deposit. The rate, the lowest ever for a home purchase or remortgage and a substantial discount on the bank’s standard variable rate (SVR) of 3.94 per cent, will [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 2, 2009 THE benchmark share index closed flat yesterday as a retreat in financials and miners, triggered by weak US data, was offset by stronger energy stocks, after a “giant” oil find by BP. The FTSE 100 index ended down 2.15 points at 4,817.55, after it fell 1.8 per cent on Tuesday. US private employers cut 298,000 [...]