WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LEHMAN WARNS ON US CLAIMS Big banks seeking to make windfall profits by making “outrageously unreasonable” claims against Lehman Brothers’ US business will be forced to prove their case in public courts, the executive leading the unwinding of the failed bank has warned. Bryan Marsal, the chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings, who [...]
Bus firms facing investigation January 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S big five bus firms are facing a probe over concerns that limited competition is driving up fares. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is asking the Competition Commission to investigate the industry after finding that a distorted market was causing higher prices and poorer services. The probe is likely to hit firms such as [...]
Mobile tie-up December 17, 2009 THE proposed merger of Orange and T-Mobile could curb competition and hurt consumers, regulator Ofcom has warned. Ofcom said it was satisfied that consumers were well served thanks to competition between the country’s five mobile carriers, but this situation could change if the merger were to go ahead. The regulator has no direct authority to [...]
SUITOR LIES IN WAIT AS HOODLESS PLANS FOR A CHANGE OF SCENERY December 17, 2009 THINGS are hotting up over at broker Hoodless Brennan, which I hear is currently in the final throes of negotiating a move from its current Canary Wharf HQ back to the quainter environs of the Square Mile. The brokers at Hoodless, which plans to shack up on Finsbury Pavement some time early next year, are [...]
SOVEREIGN SCORES A COUP AS IT NETS BANK GRANDEE BOB WIGLEY December 16, 2009 MY MY , but hasn’t it been an eventful few months for Aim-listed home equity release firm Sovereign Reversions? Back in August, Countrywide chairman Harry Hill and a couple of fellow dissident shareholders caused a touch of controversy by trying to oust Sovereign’s board and put the company into run-off by sending out pre-ticked proxy [...]
CITY TYPES FANCY A FLUTTER ON RACE GAME December 6, 2009 AN ENTERPRISING businessman, a barrel-load of twenty quid tickets, the chance to win a lucrative prize of your dreams… sound familiar? It may well do, given ex-Nomura banker Andrew Paul’s recent venture selling tickets for the chance to win his mansion, Aston Martin and power boat, which is now going to be made into a [...]
NEW EU REGULATORS GIVEN HUGE POWERS December 2, 2009 BRUSSELS grabbed huge new powers over the financial services industry yesterday amid growing fears that excessive red tape is destroying the City of London’s competitiveness. European finance ministers agreed a sweeping new regulatory framework that will see the EU take centre stage in the supervision of banks, markets and insurance companies. Ministers agreed to the [...]
EU’s power grab is a disaster for London December 2, 2009 FIRST they came for the hedge funds, then private equity – now it is the turn of the banks, the securities industry and the insurers. The EU’s power grab is almost complete; it is pumping out new proposals on everything from derivatives to asset management virtually every day. The fact that most of these are [...]
Rivals lash out at LSE after damaging technology glitch November 26, 2009 RIVALS to the London Stock Exchange expressed outrage yesterday after a crippling technical glitch put a stop to trading, claiming investors had effectively been duped by an inability to route their custom to other venues. The problem brought trading to a halt for over three hours on the London Stock Exchange. During that time, the [...]
Danish and French take on Swisscom November 25, 2009 FRANCE Telecom yesterday struck a deal with Danish peer TDC to boost their position in the small but affluent Swiss market and challenge local leader Swisscom. France Telecom will pay €1.5bn (£1.35bn) for a 75 per cent stake in a new company that has the assets and clients of TDC’s Sunrise and France Telecom’s Orange [...]