Obama healthcare bill passed March 22, 2010 The US House of Representatives has voted in favour of Barack Obama’s healthcare reform bill by a slim margin. The bill was passed by 219 votes to 212, after a fiery debate. It extends state-aided healthcare coverage to 32m more Americans and is a flagship policy for the US president. Obama said: “We proved that [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 21, 2010 Prupim Asia The real estate investment company, a joint venture between Prupim UK and Prudential’s Asian fund management business, has appointed Scott Girard as its new chief executive. Girard, currently chief investment officer at the firm, started his career at ANZ Funds Management in Australia before working at a consultancy. He takes over from Alex [...]
EU’s Barnier pledges to tackle CDS March 17, 2010 The European Commission will propose controls on how investors bet on the chances of government debt defaults as soon as June to curb speculation blamed for aggravating Greece’s borrowing problems. Restricting trading by hedge funds of sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) or debt insurance, is high on the European Union’s political agenda as finance ministers [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 16, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES EX-EMPLOYEE SUES SOCGEN FOR џ12M Societe Genrale, France’s second-largest bank, is being sued for more than џ12.5m (£11.3m) by its former head of European fixed income after his contract was terminated at the start of the credit crunch. The High Court heard yesterday that Raphael Geys, its London-based former managing director of European [...]
Europe: UK needs to slash deficit March 15, 2010 PRIME minister Gordon Brown will this week receive a direct order to up his game from the European Commission, which is concerned the UK is not doing enough to cut its burgeoning budget deficit. In a damning indictment of the state of the UK’s finances, leaked draft documents conclude that the government’s fiscal programme “is [...]
Europe is risking a trade war with US March 11, 2010 ONCE again, the European Union has got it wrong. It doesn’t have a clue about regulating hedge funds, private equity or other financial products and players. Brussels is tilting at windmills, attacking problems that don’t exist, inserting dangerous protectionist barriers into its proposed new rules and all the while ignoring the very real weaknesses and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES PUSH FOR CLEARING HOUSES FAILS TO MOVE OIL TRADERS Big oil traders are choosing to keep more derivatives deals private, in spite of a global regulatory campaign to steer such contracts to clearing houses. Their willingness to take on risks viewed as intolerable just a year ago reflects renewed faith in the strength [...]
Darling rules out a giveaway budget but tax rises not expected March 11, 2010 Alistair Darling says his budget on 24 March will not be a “giveaway.” He said the budget, Labour’s last chance to set out its plans for the economic recovery, before an expected 6 May election, will be “a budget for the times in which we live.” He said: “I don’t think anyone’s expecting some sort [...]
The public’s priorities are mixed up March 7, 2010 THERE was a rather interesting set of findings in this weekend’s BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday. When presented with options about what would make people more likely to vote for a political party, 45 per cent said a harsher approach to crime, with the same number backing a tougher immigration policy – no [...]
Government told to lay out deficit plans March 7, 2010 THE British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has urged the government to come up with a credible plan for cutting the budget deficit or risk having the UK’s credit rating damaged. The BCC said the plan must include freezing the total public sector wage bill and bringing public pensions into line with the private sector. The [...]