Direct Line’s Geddes needs to sell himself or face failure September 6, 2012 LONDON’S capital markets have been cheered a little by news that Alisher Usmanov, the Russian tycoon that owns a large shareholding in Arsenal football club, intends to raise $4bn (£2.5bn) for mobile phone operator Megafon in the next few weeks. There have been too few IPOs this year and so anything that livens up the [...]
OFT calls for review into petrol prices September 5, 2012 The consumer affairs watchdog has called for information on petrol and diesel prices from the industry and consumer groups to identify whether there are competition problems it needs to tackle. In a sign that authorities are worried about near record high fuel prices, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is calling for responses on whether [...]
Exam targets shouldn’t be prioritised at the expense of a decent education August 28, 2012 THE highly emotional debate still raging about GCSE grades is not very enlightening. But what has happened tells us a lot about how incentives matter, and how they affect outcomes. At the same time, it shows us that unless a proper set of social norms is in place, incentives can have unanticipated, perverse effects. In [...]
Stansted considered a prize asset now it is finally being sold August 20, 2012 THERE are more than a handful of less than busy investment bankers celebrating the decision yesterday by Spanish group Ferrovial that it will sell Stansted Airport. The group is finally doing so after three years of wrangling with the competition authorities. The Spaniards have been trying long and hard to avoid a sale, even threatening [...]
CME plans new London exchange August 19, 2012 LONDON could soon be hosting another derivatives exchange, as reports over the weekend suggested CME Group is planning to open a new European market based in the City. The addition of a competitor to take on the London-based NYSE Euronext’s Liffe and Deutsche Bourse’s Eurex in Frankfurt could be a major step in shaking up [...]
Manchester rivals set to dominate title race again August 16, 2012 THE 2011/12 Premier League season will go down in history as one of the most dramatic ever. It was like a heavyweight title fight where both contenders dusted themselves off from a ‘nine-count’ to floor their opponent in the next round, until Sergio Aguero landed the knockout blow in the 94th minute against QPR at [...]
GSK sells Australian drugs for £172m August 15, 2012 GlaxoSmithKline advanced its clear-out of non-core drugs today with a deal to sell 25 older brands marketed in Australia to South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare for £172m. Andrew Witty, chief executive of Britain’s biggest drug maker, said last month during quarterly results that he was looking for further ways to simplify the GSK business, following previous [...]
Which warns banks not to start charging for current accounts August 13, 2012 CONSUMER groups yesterday warned that banks’ customers could be badly ripped off if the popular “free banking” model of current accounts is scrapped. Incoming Barclays chairman Sir David Walker revealed he “in principle” favours charging customers for current accounts, joining FSA boss Lord Turner who believes the system prevents new banks entering the market. Providing [...]
Currie to head antitrust body … July 17, 2012 FORMER Ofcom boss Lord Currie has been chosen as the first chair of the Competition and Markets Authority – the UK’s new antitrust regulator. Currie will earn £185,000 a year for the three-day a week commitment, serving as chair of the body for a four-year term beginning this summer. The CMA is part of the government’s [...]
Why Britain must not veto banking union for Europe July 16, 2012 DAVID Cameron risks facing his own personal European groundhog day. A watershed European summit last month advanced proposals for a Eurozone banking union. Final approval is due in December. The aim is to break the fatal link between euro area banks and sovereigns. Less painful for Germany than eurobonds, but seen as credible by financial [...]