MURRAY BACK IN THE GROOVE November 3, 2009 TOP seed Andy Murray swept to victory in his comeback match in Spain after beating home qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-1 at the Valencia Open. Playing his first match in six weeks, the British No1 was a little rusty, still clearly feeling the affects of a wrist injury. But the 22-year-old was still untroubled as [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE’S GHANA DEAL ATTRACTS SFO INTERESTThe UK Serious Fraud Office has contacted Vodafone about its controversial deal to buy a controlling stake in Ghana’s third-largest mobile phone operator. The SFO has not launched an investigation into the deal, but is monitoring allegations of irregularity that have been made in Ghana. INDIAN SURGE BENEFITS [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 2, 2009 Close Brothers Corporate FinanceThe independent corporate finance advisory firm has appointed Will Thompson to head up its support services sector team. Thompson joined the firm in March this year to lead the European healthcare services team, having previously been at Morgan Stanley. He has also worked at Lazard and Barings. He has advised on numerous [...]
Russia warns on Ukraine gas November 1, 2009 Vladimir Putin the Russian Prime Minister warned the European Union yesterday that gas supplies via Ukraine may be disrupted because of another pay dispute with Kiev. Putin said he wanted to “draw attention to signals, including those sent through official channels to Kiev, concerning possible payment problems for the delivery of Russian gas”.
Kremlin seeks Western capital with bond issue November 1, 2009 A RUSSIAN delegation will arrive in London this week to announce an £11bn bond issue as it seeks Western investment in its struggling economy. Deputy prime minister Alexei Kudrin, who is also Russia’s finance minister, will meet business secretary Peter Mandelson, bringing with him senior figures from the Russian central bank and finance ministry, as [...]
Russia cuts interest rate October 29, 2009 Russia’s central bank yesterday cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 9.5 per cent in an attempt to boost bank lending and reduce the attractiveness of short-term investments in Russian assets. It also reduced the repurchase rate charged on central bank loans to 8.5 per cent from nine per cent. Analysts thought that the [...]
Joblessness takes its toll on BAT sales October 28, 2009 BRITISHAmerican Tobacco, the cigarette giant behind the Dunhill and Lucky Strike brands, yesterday revealed that its sales volumes had dropped for the first time in two years, hit by downturns in key territories. BAT said volumes had fallen in Japan, Russia, Brazil, Italy and South Africa, taking volumes overall for the group down three per [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 22, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GARTMORE ON BRINK OF £500M IPOGartmore, the fund management group equally owned by management and private equity group Hellman & Friedman, aims to register flotation plans with the UK’s Financial Services Authority as early as next week. The group has appointed Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to advise it on completing an initial public [...]
City Moves for 23 October 2009 | Who’s switching jobs October 22, 2009 Grosvenor Fund ManagementThe fund management firm has hired Dominic Field as director of business development, responsible for advising on and supporting new business initiatives and investor relations. Field was previously director of the real estate private fund group at Credit Suisse, where he worked on over 30 fund raisings across Europe, the US and Asia. [...]
The numbers man on why London needs to give the right message October 21, 2009 John Griffith-Jones definitely comes across as a man on a mission. Whether he’s talking about hooking accountancy giants KPMG up with as many of its European partners as possible, helping the banks through one of the most catastrophic crises in their history, preserving the status of London as a financial centre, or teaching young children [...]