Aquascutum calls administrators April 17, 2012 Aquascutum, the British luxury clothing brand has gone into administration, the latest high-profile name to fall by the wayside in the consumer downturn. FRP Advisory, the restructuring, recovery and insolvency firm, said two of its partners had been named administrators of the 161-year old loss-making firm, which employs 250 people in the UK.
Goldman reduces stake in ICBC through share sale to Temasek April 16, 2012 SINGAPORE state investor Temasek bought $2.3bn (£1.4bn) worth of ICBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares from seller Goldman Sachs yesterday, piling into three of China’s top four banks and raising its bet on the world’s second-biggest economy. Temasek was burned by its financial industry exposure in 2008, hit by stakes in large European and US banks that [...]
RAPID RESPONSES April 16, 2012 The debate goes on [Re: We need an open contest to decide who will run the Bank, Thursday] The three main objections to a possible cancellation of the QE gilts appear to be, firstly, that the Bank of England would become insolvent, secondly, that we would lose the ability to sell those gilts back to [...]
Retailers race to refinance £7bn of debt April 15, 2012 RETAILERS will struggle to refinance debts of as much as $11.2bn (£7bn) due for maturity at the end of this year, leaving some firms at the mercy of their lenders and putting others in danger of insolvency, an industry report has warned. Some 46 UK based retailers hold bank debt totalling $50bn due for maturity [...]
RAPID responses April 15, 2012 Unbreakable bonds [Re: We need an open contest to decide who will run the Bank, Thursday] Allister Heath argues that the £300bn plus held by the Bank of England in government bonds should be cancelled to reduce the government’s debt and interest bill. Cancelling the bonds would undermine the credibility and independence of the Bank [...]
Euro crisis back with a vengeance April 10, 2012 FEARS over the future of the Eurozone reignited yesterday, sparking a collapse in stock markets and a sharp upturn in borrowing costs for struggling Mediterranean states. Yields on Spanish and Italian government bonds soared throughout the day, reversing the recent calming downward trend that had been temporarily achieved with a €1 trillion (£824bn) refinancing operation [...]
London leads UK recovery, but large retailers drag on growth April 9, 2012 THE ECONOMY is growing once more – and London led the recovery in the first quarter, influential survey data showed yesterday. However, other indicators pointed to weakness in some parts of the UK, with increasing numbers of retailers entering administration in the first three months of the year. Every English region except the north east [...]
Petroplus gets first offers for German plant April 2, 2012 SEVERAL interested parties have submitted offers for insolvent refiner Petroplus’ Ingolstadt plant in Germany, a spokesman for the refinery’s administrator said yesterday. “We’ve received non-binding offers and are now organising plant visits,” said the spokesman for administrator Jaffe Rechtsanwaelte Insolvenzverwalter. “We hope to be able to conclude negotiations in the second quarter,” he added. The [...]
Number of British insolvencies edged up over last year March 25, 2012 INSOLVENCIES have crept up over the past 12 months, according to data released by Experian this morning. The rate of insolvencies among British companies rose to 0.1 per cent last month, compared to 0.08 per cent in February 2012. Among medium to large-sized firms – categorised as those with between 101 and 500 employees – [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 18, 2012 Carey Olsen The leading legal services provider, with offices in London and the Channel Islands, has announced that Elaine Gray is joining its Guernsey litigation and dispute resolution group. Gray is the second senior level appointment to the department in less than a year, following the arrival of contentious trust specialist Michael McAuley in July [...]