Insolvencies set to escalate July 8, 2010 UK insolvencies are forecast to rise next year as austerity measures start to bite, with more than 127,000 companies continuing to suffer “significant” financial distress, restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor warned yesterday. In total the struggling companies owed £69.5m at the end of the second quarter – a rise of 26 per cent compared to the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 7, 2010 Religare Enterprises The Indian financial services group has appointed Stuart Pearce, pictured, and Kathryn Matthews as independent board directors. Pearce has over 35 years of experience in the sector and was previously chief executive and director general of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. He has also worked as chief executive of UK investment management at [...]
AgBank’s IPO to get $22bn July 6, 2010 AGRICULTURAL Bank of China priced its Hong Kong and Shanghai dual listing yesterday, a deal that would break all IPO records by raising more than $22bn when adding in over-allotment shares. The initial public offering (IPO), which is raising funds to replenish capital, still faces a tough aftermarket, with a debut planned for 15 July [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 6, 2010 Clifford Chance The legal giant said yesterday that Simon Tinkler has been elected leader of its London corporate practice, for a term of four years. Tinkler has been at Clifford Chance since 1995. A private equity expert, he has recently advised on deals such as Duke Street’s disposal of Simple, Sandpiper on its sale of [...]
Pensions Regulator’s first notice June 30, 2010 The Pensions Regulator has issued its first contribution notice against a European company, ordering Belgium-based weaving machine maker Michel Van De Wiele (VDW) to make good a gap in the pension scheme of a UK subsidiary it claimed had been liquidated to avoid maintaining the fund. The group tried to dodge its liability by putting [...]
Risk aversion will undermine euro June 29, 2010 DEMAND for risky assets has been undermined this week by concerns about both the strength of the US recovery and that Chinese growth may not be as rapid as had previously been thought. The euro has also started to wobble again, destabilised by a resurgence in fears about Europe’s banking sector. These worries about the [...]
BA’s pension recovery gets the go-ahead June 22, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) has agreed a plan with its trustees that will see the airline deal with its £3.7bn pension deficit head on. Under the new agreement, BA will commit to annual contributions of £330m with a three per cent rise every year, at the same time promising that it will make additional contributions should [...]
BA agrees recovery plan for £3.7bn pension deficit June 22, 2010 BRITISH Airways has agreed a recovery plan for its £3.7bn pension deficit – removing a final obstacle to its planned merger with Spain’s Iberia. BA said it had reached a deal with the trustees of its Airways Pension Scheme (APS), which last December had a deficit of £1bn and its New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), [...]
More directors facing disqualification June 20, 2010 THE number of directors of insolvent companies facing disqualification proceedings for involvement in criminal activity has increased by 52 per cent in a year, new figures show. City law firm Wedlake Bell, which obtained the figures, has warned this is just the tip of the iceberg. In the year up to 31 March 2010, 265 [...]
Vantis shares suspended as crisis deepens June 14, 2010 VANTIS, the troubled accountancy outfit, is preparing a fire sale of its assets unless it can find an investor with a “wad of cash” to help pay down its £54m debt pile. The Aim-listed firm tumbled deeper into crisis yesterday when its shares were suspended due to doubts over its ability to continue operating. In [...]