Blackstone and TPG line up to bid for troubled Egg bank November 17, 2010 BLACKSTONE and TPG are believed to be preparing a bid for US lender Citigroup’s online bank Egg. Citigroup bought the unit in May 2007 for £546m from British insurer Prudential. However binding offers are expected to fall well short of that level, at around £300m. Barclays bank is also believed to have an interest in [...]
Amlin says business is still mixed November 15, 2010 LLOYD’S insurance group Amlin said yesterday trading last quarter was mixed, as it posted a 39 per cent increase in premiums written in the year to date. The group wrote £1.92bn in the period, thanks to its acquisition of ACI and new business within its UK fleet motor and Bermuda arms. Amlin said catastrophe reinsurance [...]
Ambac files for bankruptcy November 8, 2010 US bond insurer Ambac Financial Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday citing liabilities of $1.68bn (£1.04bn). Its shares plummeted in after-hours trading to $0.20 down from $0.52 at their close on the Wall Street. Ambac failed after chasing higher profits by insuring riskier debt. The move backfired when the housing market crashed and credit [...]
The man who is helping investors to take the smartest risk possible November 3, 2010 FOR somebody who has just stepped off a night flight from New York, Michael Thompson is remarkably cheery and animated when we meet in the Canary Wharf offices of Standard and Poor’s (S&P). Perhaps it’s the large coffee he admits to having drunk earlier or maybe it’s because he has become a more regular transatlantic [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 1, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LEASE FEARS FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARMS Wind farm operators building offshore risk having their leases terminated without compensation if oil and gas companies decide they need the seabed plot for exploration, drilling or pipelines. Industry executives are warning that the lease terms, issued by the Queen’s Crown Estate, could threaten the funding of [...]
Ambac shares hit as it warns of bankruptcy November 1, 2010 AMBAC Financial Group, which was the second-largest US bond insurer before suffering huge losses on risky mortgages, said it may file for bankruptcy protection as soon as this year after skipping a bond interest payment. Ambac shares fell as much as 59.8 per cent before closing down 50.4 per cent, or 41.9 cents, at 41.2 [...]
Three cheers for the stars of the Square Mile October 28, 2010 LAST night was truly an exciting and exceptional occasion: City A.M.’s inaugural awards celebrating the best and brightest of London’s business, financial and investment communities. Our inaugural awards ceremony saw more than 450 guests in their finery roll up at the Grange Hotel at St Pauls. Our winners, unique in that each was initially chosen [...]
Few cheers for physical base metal products from analysts October 27, 2010 THIS year’s annual London Metal Exchange (LME) week was abuzz with the news that physical exchange-traded commodities (ETC) for base metals are going to see the light of day. After plenty of speculation in both the press and the markets, ETF Securities confirmed what many had assumed and announced that it was preparing to launch [...]
Banks will look more closely at law firms, post-downturn October 26, 2010 RECENT trading results published by a number of the large law firms might suggest they have weathered the economic turmoil pretty well. However, much of this robust performance has been achieved through cost-cutting. This is likely to worry banks and other potential backers of law firms. Difficult trading conditions have put financial management under the [...]
Coalition’s pension shake-up is a major error October 25, 2010 The proposals for a new state pension are straight from the old Lib Dem handbook. The government wants to raise the state pension and pay it to everybody regardless of National Insurance contribution (NIC)?records. There are problems with the current system, but sustainable reform is possible. The contributory principle should be strengthened and the two [...]