Icap enters late stage talks to put Libor rigging claims to rest September 9, 2013 ICAP, the interdealer broker, is in late stage talks with US and UK regulators to settle longstanding claims over the Libor rigging scandal for about £70m. The broker, led by City grandee Michael Spencer, is understood to be nearing a deal with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to pay it £20m and US Department of [...]
The MPV that’s cool… in a dad way September 9, 2013 Citroën has bent over backwards to make its new C4 Picasso accessible for style-conscious families MULTI-PURPOSE Vehicles (MPVs) have a reputation for being dull to look at and boring to drive. They’re seen as functional, humourless boxes, with sensible, easy-wipe cabins populated by the children of practically minded parents who shop with the head rather [...]
Scrap the licence fee – and drag British TV into 21st century September 8, 2013 THERE is a simple solution to the scandal that is currently engulfing the BBC, centering around the size and scope of payoffs to former staff and the implication that public money was squandered. The answer is to reform the way the BBC is funded, and to allow it to spend its own money hiring and [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 September 2013 September 8, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Capital warning from bank reformer The chief architect of Britain’s post-crisis regulatory reforms believes banks’ capital levels should be double the level recommended two years ago by the government-appointed commission that he led. Sir John Vickers told the Financial Times that in a “blue-skies” world banks’ core tier one capital ratios would now [...]
Kitchen King lines up advisers for flotation September 8, 2013 THE OWNER of household appliances website AO.com – previously known as Appliances Online – is understood to have hired banks to work on a £300m flotation on the London Stock Exchange. John Roberts, the founder of DRL Limited, which owns AO.com, has reportedly hired Jefferies and JP Morgan to prepare the company for a listing. [...]
Japanese brewer in talks to buy Glaxo’s Ribena and Lucozade September 5, 2013 JAPANESE group Suntory Beverage & Food is in advanced talks to buy Lucozade and Ribena from pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). A person close to the company told City A.M. that the two drinks brands are likely to be sold for between £1bn to £1.5bn and that a deal could be completed within days. However, the [...]
Grapple investors share £40m pot after payment firm swoops September 5, 2013 LONDON-based design agency Grapple Mobile was snapped up by Monitise yesterday, bagging its founders a large share in the £39.4m price tag. Grapple is a design agency which provides smartphone solutions for brands such as Whitbread, Sky & B&Q. Yesterday Monitise bought its entire share capital for £16.5m, with a further payment of up to [...]
Wiggins set to lead at Tour of Britain September 5, 2013 CYCLING: London 2012 hero Sir Bradley Wiggins has been named lead rider for Team Sky’s assault on the Tour of Britain, which starts on 14 September and finishes eight days later in the capital. The event will form part of Wiggins’ preparations for the Road World Championships the following week.
Dixons retail set to offload Pixmania September 4, 2013 DIXON’S Retail, Europe’s second-biggest electrical goods retailer, is expected to confirm reports today that it will recommend a sale of its loss-making PIXmania e-commerce business. PIXmania, which operates in France and the Czech Republic, has dragged down the performance of the group as it battles the economic problems that have kept much of Europe in [...]
Syrian parliament invokes strange Shakespearean allegory in letter to UK MPs September 4, 2013 (Salanio and Salarino encounter Shylock) The Syrian parliament appears to have dropped a reference to Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” in a letter to UK MPs. In the second paragraph of a document obtained by Sky News, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, speaker of the people’s assembly of Syria, writes: We write to you as fathers and [...]