Farepak bosses could be barred from City jobs February 15, 2011 EXECUTIVES of the ill-fated savings club Farepak could be banned from serving as company directors after the government’s Insolvency Service applied to the courts to disqualify them. Nine directors including former CBI president Sir Clive Thompson and outgoing Blacks Leisure chief executive Neil Gillis could face a ban of up to 15 years if the [...]
Credit Suisse in £3.8bn convertible bond issue February 14, 2011 Credit Suisse will issue six billion Swiss francs (£3.8bn) of contingent convertible capital bonds (CoCos) to two Middle Eastern investors, a move towards satisfying tougher Swiss capital rules. Under the new rules, Switzerland’s two biggest banks UBS and Credit Suisse will have to issue CoCos, which convert into equity under certain conditions such as if [...]
UK insolvencies drop in 2010 January 24, 2011 BUSINESS failures declined by 18 per cent last year as the health of UK businesses improved, according to an insolvency index released today. The upturn was the first in two years, data company Experian revealed. The total number of insolvencies dropped from 24,209 in 2009, to 19,946 last year, it said – an 18 per [...]
Firms struggling to stay afloat up by 20 per cent January 23, 2011 THE number of UK companies struggling to stay solvent jumped 20 per cent in the last quarter of 2010, data shows today. Nearly 148,000 companies had insolvent accounts, a court action against them or a wind-up petition filed by the end of 2010, up from 123,361 in the third quarter, the Red Flag Alert analysis [...]
HMV supplies hit by credit insurance cut January 18, 2011 TROUBLED music retailer HMV came under further fire yesterday after suppliers revealed that its credit insurers were drastically cutting the amount of sales they would insure. An internal memo from Sony showed that its credit insurers had withdrawn all cover for new sales to HMV after a meeting with HMV chief executive Simon Fox had [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS DIRECTOR TO STEP DOWN FROM BOARD One of the last Royal Bank of Scotland directors to remain on the bank’s board from the days of Sir Fred goodwin is poised to step down from his role. Colin Buchan, 56, a former UBS investment banker who until recently was chairman of RBS’s remuneration [...]
Basel tightens rules on bank hybrid debt January 13, 2011 GLOBAL bank regulators yesterday laid out rules to make clear holders of hybrid bank debt will take losses if a lender becomes insolvent, so that taxpayers aren’t left to foot the bill. One of the biggest controversies of the financial crisis was how holders of subordinated bank capital debt escaped liability for bank failures even [...]
Basel says bank bondholders must bear losses January 13, 2011 BASEL bank regulators have laid out rules making clear that holders of hybrid bank debt will take losses if a lender becomes insolvent, rather than taxpayers. One of the biggest controversies of the financial crisis was how holders of subordinated bank capital debt escaped liability for bank failures even when public funds were being used [...]
Number of insolvencies drops from record levels January 10, 2011 CORPORATE insolvencies plummeted by over 17 per cent last year, it was revealed yesterday. The figures show that industry recovered from record high levels of insolvency in 2009. Around 21,000 businesses declared corporate insolvency last year, down from 25,432 in 2009, according to consultants RSM Tenon. “We have seen a record decrease in corporate insolvency [...]
EU proposes overhaul to stop bailouts January 6, 2011 THE EU released a set of proposals yesterday that would give regulators the power to take over failing banks and impose haircuts on senior bondholders. The European Commission, headed by Michel Barnier, published the 100-page document, which is to form the basis for consultation submissions until 3 March. The document outlines plans to create a [...]