Greek crisis rocks markets April 27, 2010 GREECE’s financial chaos threatened to spiral out of control last night, battering world markets as fears rose that other European nations could be swept up into the crisis. The FTSE 100 Index sunk 2.6 per cent to 5603.5 amid a global sell-off with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 1.9 per cent to 10,991.9, France’s [...]
European insurance industry is braced for pickup in M&A activity April 27, 2010 THE European insurance sector is set for a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, as companies look for growth opportunities over the next year, Moody’s said yesterday. M&A volume had fallen sharply over the past couple of years, but recent stabilisation of capital markets would provide scope for consolidation, the credit ratings agency added. [...]
Greece moves close to brink April 22, 2010 GREECE’S horrendous week got worse yesterday when its yawning budget deficit was revised by nearly one percentage point, and it was hit with another debt downgrade sparking a fresh bout of worry in bond markets. Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, said the heavily indebted country’s public shortfall would come in at 13.6 per cent [...]
All City firms to be hit by IMF tax April 21, 2010 NON-BANK financial firms were left reeling yesterday as it emerged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposes to levy new taxes on all financial institutions, crippling insurers, hedge funds, private equity firms and asset managers as well as banks. Analysts at Credit Suisse estimated that the taxes could cost the European banking industry as much as [...]
Spend £1bn on education, Goldman April 20, 2010 HERE is a suggestion for Goldman Sachs: make an immediate £1bn donation to a special new fund for financial and economic education. Then try and rope in a few more of the big banks and financial institutions, all of whom may be happy to stump up to deflect the tidal wave of populist anti-bonus and [...]
Credit Suisse buys Prudential shares ahead of Asian listing April 20, 2010 CREDIT Suisse, Prudential’s lead adviser on its forthcoming takeover of Asian insurer AIA, has amassed a stake in the British company worth £106m in the past month. The investment bank bought 15.9m shares in Prudential at the start of April, bringing its total holding to just over 18m. The numbers will fuel expectations that Prudential’s [...]
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 [...]