Begbies says insolvencies falling March 12, 2012 Professional services group Begbies Traynor cut 30 of its insolvency practitioners last year as fewer UK companies went bust, it said in a trading update yesterday. The firm said low interest rates had helped to keep the insolvency market “subdued”, though it has been trading in line with expectations thanks to improved cost control and [...]
A Parliamentary blueprint to end banking hazards March 8, 2012 STEVE Baker MP has proposed a private member’s bill, the Financial Institutions (Reform) Bill, calling for radical reforms to the banking system and an end to state involvement in banking. Baker is co-founder of the Cobden Centre, a free-market institute advocating the restoration of sound banking and honest money, and is the Conservative MP for [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 29, 2012 Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy The US law firm has hired corporate partner Mark Stamp to join its partnership from rival Linklaters, though no start date for his appointment has been announced. Stamp has been a partner at Linklaters since 1994, having joined the firm in 1983 as a trainee. He works in domestic and [...]
China’s bad debts will fuel next crisis February 29, 2012 THERE can be no doubt that China’s story is one of astonishing economic success. Ever since they started to embrace capitalism in the late 1970s, the authorities in Beijing have presided over the greatest, most extensive wealth creation and poverty reduction experiment in history. But the remaining elements of central planning at the heart of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES WELLS FARGO EYES EUROPEAN BANK ASSETS TO POWER EXPANSION PLANS Wells Fargo plans to increase the size of its wealth management and insurance divisions through acquisitions as well as buying more assets from shrinking European banks, its chief executive says. John Stumpf, whose bank’s market capitalisation is bigger than that of any other [...]
Red tape and defaults hit bank lending February 26, 2012 STIFLING regulations and a rising number of defaults are forcing banks to cut down on lending, a new report from Ernst & Young warns this morning. Banks are being “forced on a diet”, according to the firm’s Marcel Van Loo, who said: “on the one hand they are being asked to hold more capital but [...]
Fitch: Bailout is likely to fail February 22, 2012 GREECE has received a fresh blow as ratings agency Fitch downgraded the government, warning a “default is highly likely in the near term.” Even the shaky €130bn (£109.9bn) bailout deal, agreed by Eurozone leaders in the early hours of Tuesday morning, may not be implemented as parliamentarians in Germany’s ruling parties threatened to vote against [...]
Keeping zombie companies alive is a scary policy February 20, 2012 COMPANY insolvencies are a sign of a healthy economy and preventing companies from failing stifles the innovation this country needs to grow. Insolvencies, together with mergers and acquisitions, new company registrations, recruitment, and redundancies are, strange though it may seem to some, a sign of a healthy economy. Analysis of the number of new companies [...]
FTSE buoyed by Greek endgame February 17, 2012 The FTSE 100 opened on the front foot as the end game at last appeared to be approaching in the Greek bailout debacle. Optimism is growing that Greece has finally done enough to secure a second bailout, which could be approved as early as Monday. Averting a disorderly Greek insolvency is seen as a crucial [...]
Coryton given lifeline by KKR and Morgan Stanley February 15, 2012 CORYTON refinery will continue to operate for at least three more months after Marcel Van Poecke, a co-founder of insolvent owner Petroplus, teamed up with Morgan Stanley and investor KKR to provide fresh crude supplies. Coryton, in Essex, is the most coveted asset of the five refineries owned by Petroplus around Europe, traders and analysts [...]