Battle for Wall St reaches final stage May 16, 2010 WAHT is being billed by proponents as the biggest shake-up of Wall Street since the great depression could go through the senate this week as politicians desperately haggle over the future of the US financial system. A series of new measures promise to reform many Wall Street practices. Proposals for the new bill include: • Setting [...]
How Herbert Smith’s new boss will take on the big boys of global law May 16, 2010 THIS WEEK Jonathan Scott takes up his five-year post as senior partner for venerable City law firm Herbert Smith, and many observers bet that somewhere on the desk of his fourth floor office at the practice’s Primrose Street headquarters there is an A4 sheet of paper with just two words on it – overseas expansion. [...]
Asian indices will not move at the same pace May 10, 2010 ASIAN indices have not been immune to the Greek crisis and the wave of risk aversion that has been sweeping across the world, despite traders’ relatively bullish attitude towards the region. Major stock indices have all suffered: the Chinese Hang Seng H-Shares index has dropped 10 per cent since the middle of April, while the [...]
The Tipster May 4, 2010 ALTHOUGH the situation in Greece has put enormous pressure on the euro, the Swiss franc has held remarkably firm above the SFr1.4320 level over the past month when you might have expected euro-Swiss franc to fall even further. The Swiss National Bank has been supporting the franc at around SFr1.4325 in a bid to prevent [...]
China’s banks hit as reserve ratio is hiked May 3, 2010 CHINESE shares yesterday dipped on global markets after the country upped the proportion of deposits lenders must keep in reserve at the central bank, in a move to rein in inflation and mop up excess liquidity. China yesterday said it would lift lenders’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points from 10 May, the third [...]
Honda drives into profit as market picks up April 28, 2010 CARMAKER Honda has reported a profit for the first three months of 2010. The Japanese company said it made a net profit of 72bn yen (£507m) between January and March, with sales rising by 28 per cent. A recovery in the major US and Japanese car markets helped Honda, as well as expansion in developing [...]
Bubble fears overdone in emerging markets April 27, 2010 IN SPITE of emerging markets’ strong rebound from the financial crisis and their rosy growth prospects, 41 per cent of European pension plans still have no exposure at all to this sector, according to an annual asset allocation report released earlier this month by Mercer, a consultancy. But this is changing in the wake of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES FISHMEAL PRICES SCALE ALL-TIME HIGH The price of fishmeal, the key feedstuff for salmon and shrimp aquaculture, has surged to an all-time high after an earthquake wiped out processing plants in Chile, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the commodity, this year. The blow comes as the industry is already battling a supply squeeze [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TOSCAFUND HAS EYE ON £500M OF MORTGAGES Toscafund, the London-based hedge fund founded by ex-Credit Lyonnais star analyst Martin Hughes, is raising capital to acquire up to £500m of UK residential mortgages. The group has already closed a £250m fund of UK sub-prime mortgages, launched late last year, sources told the Financial Times. [...]
Ericsson profits down 30pc as market shrinks April 23, 2010 SWEDISH mobile giant Ericsson has reported a drop of almost a third in first-quarter profit with sales also dipping. The telecom equipment market contracted sharply in 2009 as the global downturn crimped operator spending. Its sales fell nine per cent year-on-year while operating profit, excluding joint ventures and restructuring costs, was 4.5bn Swedish crowns (£403m). [...]