Darling gives FSA power to rein in the activity of City firms July 8, 2009 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) will share formal responsibility for financial stability with the Bank of England, under a raft of measures included in chancellor Alistair Darling’s white paper on financial regulation. The chancellor rejected Conservative calls for the Bank of England to be given primary responsibility for monitoring dangers to the economy, instead opting [...]
Council of regulators led by chancellor to monitor risks to the financial system July 8, 2009 A NEW Council for Financial Stability (CFS), composed of representatives from the tripartite authorities, will be handed responsibility for monitoring emerging risks in the financial system, chancellor Alistair Darling announced yesterday. The CFS, to be chaired by Darling himself, will see figures from the Treasury, Bank of England and FSA meet regularly to discuss and [...]
EU may force banks to sell off divisions June 30, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland may be forced to dispose of assets in order to meet EU antitrust rules, the European competition commissioner warned yesterday. Speaking at the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) annual conference, Neelie Kroes said that the two banks had an unfair competitive advantage as a result of receiving state [...]
EU approves Carphone deal June 30, 2009 TELECOMS and retail group Carphone Warehouse received approval from European Union antitrust authorities yesterday for its £236m takeover of Internet service provider Tiscali UK. The European Commission, executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, said in a statement that the transaction would not impede competition. It said that though Carphone Warehouse and Tiscali UK, a [...]
VODAFONE PLANS BID FOR T-MOBILE June 28, 2009 MOBILE network operator Vodafone is considering launching a daring bid to buy smaller rival T-Mobile UK, in plans that could bring it face-to-face with competition regulators. The world’s largest mobile network by revenue is kicking the tyres at underperforming T-Mobile UK, which has an estimated enterprise value of around €4bn (£3.4bn). Such a deal would [...]
Turner is right to reject Glass-Steagall June 23, 2009 TO my surprise, I found myself agreeing with a lot – though not all – of what Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), had to say to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday. He is right that it is impossible to impose maximum size limits on banks. He was also right that we [...]
Brit launches bid for Chaucer June 22, 2009 LLOYD’S of London insurer Brit Insurance made a £226m all-share offer for smaller rival Chaucer yesterday, forcing private equity group Pamplona to reveal it has built a 7.34 per cent stake in the company. Brit is offering the Chaucer board 0.23 new Brit shares for every Chaucer share. This is a nil-premium offer, meaning it [...]
Blank’s exit won’t end Lloyds’ troubles May 17, 2009 IT was always Sir Victor Blank, one of the Labour Party’s favourite businessmen, who was most likely to be Lloyds Banking Group’s sacrificial lamb. It was he, after all, who was the main driver of Lloyds TSB’s ill-fated takeover of HBOS; he first discussed the idea of the deal with Gordon Brown over drinks in [...]
Intel to contest record fine May 13, 2009 INTEL president and chief executive Paul Otellini said yesterday that the company will appeal against the record fine of €1.06bn (£1bn) that has been imposed by the European Commission for illegal rebates and other practices it used to squeeze out its rival, AMD. “Intel takes exception to this decision. We believe the decision is wrong and [...]
China’s uncertain markets makes it a long term play August 13, 2008 The eyes of the world are on China this week, as the Olympics gets under way. Last year the Chinese stock market tried to break the high-jump record, as the Shanghai Composite hit its highest ever level in October – rising more than 400 per cent in two years. But this year, it seems to [...]