Prudential bid like a forced marriage, says Asia analyst April 18, 2010 ONE of the largest brokerage firms working in Asia has launched a scathing attack on Prudential’s planned acquisition of AIA. A CLSA note obtained by City A.M. likened Prudential’s $35.5bn (£22.8bn) bid for AIG’s Asian business to “parents forcing their daughter to marry someone she doesn’t like for money.” The 11-page attack, penned by Patricia [...]
MONEYSUPERMARKET.COM SEES REVENUES RISE AFTER ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN BOOST April 15, 2010 PRICE comparison website Moneysupermarket.com said trading bounced back after a slow January, putting internet revenue for the first quarter about six per cent ahead and keeping it on track for the year. “Moneysupermarket has had a solid first quarter, returning to revenue growth and we are now beginning to see the impact of the work [...]
He’s seen off his own PM, but now the chancellor must beat the Tories April 14, 2010 WHEN all politicians around him are losing their heads, Alistair Darling is intent on keeping his. Having seen off an attempt to replace him with Gordon Brown’s favourite apparatchik Ed Balls – who wanted to use Labour’s final Budget to make vote-winning spending promises – the famously low-key chancellor says the new enemies of prudence [...]
CONSERVATIVE MANIFESTO | AT A GLANCE April 13, 2010 Economy • Safeguard Britain’s credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit over a Parliament. • Cut wasteful government spending to bring the deficit down and restore stability. • Increase spending on health in real terms every year and honour our commitments on international aid. Financial regulation • Enable [...]
Fortis liquidates banking arm remnants April 13, 2010 BELGIAN group Fortis drew a line under its involvement in the financial crisis yesterday, liquidating the holding company that housed its banking arm before it was sold off. The Brussels-based institution, which now focuses purely on insurance, said it would book a €11.7bn (£10.3bn) tax credit on losses incurred when the division was offloaded at [...]
Trade insurers see 2009 claim numbers jump April 11, 2010 TRADE credit insurers dealt with record numbers of claims last year as the UK faced one of the worst recessions in recent history. The total amount of paid out claims jumped by 95 per cent in 2009 to £320m as compared to the previous year when companies paid out £164m in claims. Figures from the [...]
No bailout for Greek debt investors April 8, 2010 INVESTORS should have seen the sub-prime crisis coming. Yes, I know, it’s easy to say that with the benefit of hindsight, though a fair few economists and investors actually did get it right, not least the doctor turned hedge fund manager Michael Burry, who is brilliantly depicted in Michel Lewis’ new book, The Big Short. [...]
Take control of your pension plan and enjoy your old age April 8, 2010 IT IS estimated that only one in three adults under 30 are putting any money at all into a pension scheme. And little wonder when young people’s primary concerns are paying off debts accumulated in student years, saving up for those 40 per cent mortgage deposits and, truth be told, enjoying life. Retirement seems far [...]
Credit Suisse bolsters its investment banking line-up with new Nomura hire April 6, 2010 CREDIT Suisse, the bank that is advising the giant insurer Prudential on its £15bn rights issue, has hired Dominic Charnock from Nomura for its growing investment banking team. Charnock joins the investment banking team that includes Charles Donald, who left Nomura for Credit Suisse at the end of last year. Donald is widely credited as [...]
Tesco reveals banking target April 5, 2010 TESCO announced over the weekednd its ambitions to create a full service retail bank as part of plans to make up 10 per cent of the UK’s financial services market within the next ten years. The supermarket’s credit card and motor insurance businesses already makes up 10 and 4 per cent of their respective markets [...]