WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS DROPS MORTGAGE BROKERS OVER SUSPECTED FRAUD Concerns over suspected fraud have prompted Lloyds Banking Group to cull the list of brokers it allows to sell its mortgages. The UK’s largest mortgage lender has removed some 900 individuals over the past four years from its “approved panel” of brokers, including 300 in the [...]
BP’s Russian ally snubs TNK February 2, 2011 A SENIOR executive at BP’s newest Russian partner Rosneft said yesterday that TNK-BP is not big enough to join its Arctic exploration efforts. “They have neither the technology, nor the experience, nor the personnel,” Rosneft chief financial officer Peter O’Brien said of TNK-BP, which is owned by BP and Russian billionaires under the name AAR. [...]
Russians freeze BP’s $16bn deal February 1, 2011 OIL giant BP has been forced to halt work on its historic venture with Rosneft, after its billionaire Russian partners won an injunction. Four Russian oligarchs, using the name AAR, convinced the High Court to stall BP and Rosneft’s plan to swap $16bn (£10bn) worth of shares and drill in the Arctic until 25 February. [...]
Arcelor joins Mongolia coal bid February 1, 2011 Steelmaker ArcelorMittal and miner Vale are among 15 groups that applied to take part in the bidding to develop Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi coal mine. The mine is regarded as one of the world’s biggest untapped reserves with an estimated reserve of 6bn tonnes. Two groups led by Japanese trading houses, one by Mitsui & Co [...]
1,256 SAFE DAYS FOR ALL AT BP’S LONDON HQ February 1, 2011 FULL steam ahead for the BP safety train. Following The Capitalist’s story two weeks ago about how the oil giant has been beefing up ‘elf ’n’ safety procedures in stairwell use, a source has sent in this picture (see right). Yes, that’s right, a count-down (or count-up) calendar from BP’s London HQ boasting of how many “safe [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 31, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES WARNING AS BRIBERY LAW DELAYED British companies have been warned that they could be put on an export “blacklist” by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development if the government continues to delay tough new anti-corruption laws. The warning came after Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, signalled on Monday that the implementation of [...]
BP’s Russian partners plot to block dividends January 31, 2011 BP’s RUSSIAN partners are attempting to derail the payment of the firm’s final dividend payment of last year in a row over exploration contracts. AAR, a vehicle for the billionaires who own half of Russian venture TNK-BP, said at an extraordinary board meeting yesterday that it plans to block TNK-BP interim dividends amounting to $1.8bn [...]
Towergate in £200m injection January 31, 2011 ADVENT International has agreed to invest £200m in insurance intermediary Towergate Partnership. Advent, a global private equity firm, will acquire separate shareholdings in both Towergate and Cullum Capital Ventures as part of the deal. The deal, conditional upon Towergate raising new debt facilities through the bank and bond markets, is expected to be completed in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 31, 2011 HSBC HSBC today announces the appointment of Richard Jablonowski as managing director and head of investment counsellors to its private banking division. Based in London, he will report to Daniel Ellis, managing director and head of the investment group at HSBC private bank. Jablonowski joins from Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management where he spent 11 [...]
Fears over turmoil in Egypt weigh on FTSE as banks fall January 31, 2011 WORRIES over the impact of the political unrest in Egypt saw Britain’s top share index fall yesterday, but losses were limited by gains from heavyweight energy issues as the crude price firmed. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 18.43 points, or 0.3 per cent lower, at 5,862.94, having shed 1.4 per cent on [...]