PTT extends Cove bid deadline in race against oil major Shell July 9, 2012 PTT Exploration and Production yesterday extended for a second time the deadline for investors to accept its $1.9bn (£1.2bn) offer for gas explorer Cove Energy, as it waits for rival suitor Shell to make its next move. The Thai company has been fighting with oil major Shell to buy Cove since February. Cove has huge [...]
Eurozone summit fails to solve growing debt crisis July 1, 2012 EUROZONE leaders made only a few small steps towards easing the pain caused by the sovereign debt crisis, and remain far away from targeting the root causes of the currency area’s problems, economists have warned. Politicians agreed last week to make plans for a “single supervisory mechanism” for Eurozone banks, probably run by the European [...]
RAPID responses July 1, 2012 No light touch [Re: From boom to bezzle: this banking scandal will run and run, Friday] The chief big lie in this whole saga is the idea that banks faced light touch regulation. The Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000, was never ever light touch. Wrong touch, yes. Mis-touch, certainly. And definitely overweening and prescriptive, [...]
Barclays’ reputation is severely damaged but it will not be alone June 28, 2012 THERE can be little that is more precious to a bank than a reputation for integrity. The revelation that Barclays has paid a £290m fine for “misconduct” with regard to the setting of benchmark interest rates affecting trillions of pounds of financial contracts is a big blow for the bank’s reputation. Cue politicians calling for [...]
Libor: the vital number for every banker June 27, 2012 Q What is Libor? A The London interbank offered rate (Libor) is set daily for 10 major currencies and for 15 borrowing periods, ranging from overnight loans to 12 months. It is set by the British Bankers’ Association, after speaking to 16 banks and studying their data on the cost and price of lending to [...]
Fund platforms hit by FSA plan to ban rebates June 27, 2012 PLANS to make investment platforms more transparent are set to cost investment firms millions, though companies said yesterday they are prepared for the upheaval. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to ban providers from paying to have their products included on platforms, meaning investors would pay fees directly. The rules would mean the end of [...]
Should the UK create an industrial strategy to guide its future economic development? June 27, 2012 YES Vicky Pryce The UK needs a strategy for industry and it must be better than what has gone before. All too often, our industrial policy has been reactive and incoherent. It has responded to lobbying and failed to offer consistent and equal support to sectors of industry. Good industrial policy must provide the tools [...]
Is Lord Oakeshott right that RBS should be split up into a retail and investment bank? June 26, 2012 YES Richard Lloyd The RBS failure has highlighted just how critical basic banking services are to consumers and small businesses. It is crucial that high street banking is protected from instability. Our Future of Banking campaign recommended that essential retail banking services should be ring-fenced to help protect depositors from risk-taking elsewhere within the bank. [...]
Impact of immigration on the labour market is exaggerated June 25, 2012 IMMIGRANTS are better-educated than their UK counterparts and less likely to be in social housing, research from the London School of Economics revealed yesterday. The study from the Centre for Economic Performance follows a speech from Labour leader Ed Miliband last week in which he argued that worrying about immigration should inform policy more. The [...]
Irish minister says Ryanair’s bid for Aer Lingus is too low June 21, 2012 SHARES in Aer Lingus dipped 3.2 per cent yesterday after the firm’s board and the Irish government dismissed Ryanair’s takeover bid for the former flag carrier. Aer Lingus stock closed at €1.05, below Ryanair’s €1.30 per share offer price, as investors and analysts looked at the next steps for the firm.” The Irish government, which [...]