EU commission authorises investigation into Holcim-Cemex deal October 18, 2013 The European Commission has authorised anti-trust regulators to investigate the planned acquisition of cement giant Holcim's Spanish operations, by Mexican cement company Cemex. In a press release issued on Friday, the Commission asserted the deal could threaten competition in the Spanish cement market. The Commission will ask Cemex to notify the project. The acquisition of [...]
Reform the regulators to ensure markets work in the consumer’s interest October 17, 2013 WHEN should governments intervene in markets? George Osborne recently described the Help to Buy scheme as a “necessary intervention” to fix a specific market failure – the shortage of high loan-to-value mortgages. Aside from concerns that this may pump up a housing bubble, Osborne’s comments – and Ed Miliband’s earlier proposal to inject more competition [...]
City Index hires chairman as it rejigs managers October 14, 2013 CITY Index, the spread betting group two-thirds owned by Michael Spencer of Icap, is bringing in an executive chairman to try to improve its performance and to focus more on international expansion. The group is hiring Mark Preston, a banking industry specialist, who quit Lloyds Bank before its ill-fated merger with HBoS. Preston will work [...]
IAG denounces Alitalia rescue plans as illegal October 14, 2013 INTERNATIONAL Airlines Group yesterday denounced Italian plans to rescue Alitalia as illegal, as shareholders were due to vote on a capital increase to keep the near-bankrupt flag carrier flying. IAG, which owns British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia, urged the European Commission to intervene over the Italian government’s attempts to stitch together a bailout for [...]
Miliband’s policies have already damaged Britain’s economy October 14, 2013 EVERY so often, financial markets spectacularly misjudge an issue. One such blunder took place immediately after Ed Miliband announced his policy to freeze gas and electricity prices for the first 18 months of a Labour government. Instead of heading for the exits, investors sat on their hands. Shares barely fell that first afternoon, despite extensive [...]
Miliband’s policies have already damaged Britain’s economy October 13, 2013 EVERY so often, financial markets spectacularly misjudge an issue. One such blunder took place immediately after Ed Miliband announced his policy to freeze gas and electricity prices for the first 18 months of a Labour government. Instead of heading for the exits, investors sat on their hands. Shares barely fell that first afternoon, despite extensive [...]
Going West: London welcomes a new FX brokerage October 13, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets the founders of Monex Capital, who are targeting tech savvy traders DESPITE the Asian Development Bank lowering its growth forecasts for emerging nations in the region earlier this month, European brokers are launching Asian-based subsidiaries in droves (forex and commodities brokerage MIG Bank, for example, opened a Hong Kong arm this year). [...]
Inside Track: Imperial’s Napier under pressure as shareholders rebel October 9, 2013 IT has been a poor week for the UK’s quoted tobacco companies. Even by the standards of a sector used to being the target of political hammerings, the suite of measures passed by MEPs on Tuesday was tough for investors to swallow: a ban on smaller packs, enlarged health warnings and new restrictions on products [...]
CMA painted into a corner October 9, 2013 CONSUMERS need a stronger voice, according to the government, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is being set up to fight their corner. But the new consumer champion’s own voice was lost yesterday as an unforeseen problem got in the way of chief exec Alex Chisholm’s big launch speech last night – redecorating. He was [...]
EDF chief blames green policy costs for driving up energy bills October 8, 2013 THE BOSS of EDF yesterday blamed government policies for raising gas and electricity bills, rather than energy companies reaping increasingly large profits. Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of the big six energy supplier, told a conference in London that around half of the increase in bills is due to higher wholesale costs, a quarter is [...]