Liam Fox under fire over “serious mistakes” October 10, 2011 Defence secretary Liam Fox made “serious mistakes” in his dealings with his friend Adam Werritty but still has the prime minister’s support, David Cameron has said. Fox’s future had been in doubt over media and political accusations of risking national security by granting high level access to Werritty, his former flatmate, who has no official [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG HITS FRENCH AUDITORS French auditors have been lambasted by the UK’s leading accountancy regulator for their performance during the Greek debt crisis. Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council, criticised the way French banks and insurers had been allowed by their auditors to post smaller losses on Greek government bonds [...]
Women start to make their presence felt on the board, says Lord Davies October 9, 2011 THE BOARDROOMS of Britain are becoming more female, says former trade minister Lord Davies, with recent appointments such as Karen Witts to the board of Wolseley helping to meet his target of 25 per cent female FTSE 100 boards by 2015. The full figures will be revealed at a Downing Street event on Wednesday, where [...]
Plan for Dexia rescue fund is taking shape October 5, 2011 CUSTOMERS pulled millions of euros from troubled Dexia yesterday but the Franco-Belgian bank avoided a full-scale run on deposits as a bailout appeared imminent. Belgian customers withdrew around €300m (£258.88bn) from Dexia accounts, excluding online transactions. The Belgian arm of the bank holds €80bn in deposits. An emergency package is set to be announced today [...]
Thomson Reuters to issue notes September 29, 2011 MEDIA conglomerate Thomson Reuters has announced it will offer $350m (£223m) of 10 year notes to refinance borrowings used to repay a recently expired bond issue. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank Securities, JP Morgan Securities and RBS Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is expected to close on 5 October, the [...]
Life in your hands: smartphone apps September 28, 2011 RIGHT, you’ve got the latest kit, the iPhone 4, iPad 2, BlackBerry Bold Touch perhaps, but your smartphone’s home screen is looking ever-so bare. Remedying this involves a trawl through app stores and user reviews without even knowing what you’re looking for. Fear not. We look beyond the social necessities of Facebook and Foursquare, and [...]
Reed Elsevier buys Accuity for £343m September 26, 2011 Publisher Reed Elsevier is bolstering its financial data business by buying US-based Accuity for £343m. The firm says it will combine Accuity with its Bankers’ Almanac and LexisNexis Risk Solutions businesses. It has agreed to acquire the online subscription data provider from Bahrain-listed investment manager Investcorp. Mark Kelsey, chief executive of Reed’s business information unit, [...]
UBS shake-up may take three years September 25, 2011 THE SHAKE-UP of the investment bank at UBS will take two to three years to complete, its chairman said yesterday after the resignation of Oswald Gruebel. Kaspar Villiger has asked interim chief executive Sergio Ermotti to quicken a scaling back of the investment bank so details can be revealed at the bank’s investor day on [...]
Canary Wharf plans to build new offices September 22, 2011 THE developer of Canary Wharf aims to double the size of the estate over the next decade on the back of an expected long-term shortage of prime office space. The expansion of the financial centre will help it meet the extra 100,000 passengers created when Crossrail is up and running, said Canary Wharf Group (CWG), [...]
Gregory’s new one is ambitious but under-juiced September 21, 2011 THE LADY OF THE RIVERS BY PHILLIPPA GREGORY Simon & Schuster, £7.99 PHILIPPA Gregory’s success has been built upon portraying women that have remained on history’s periphery – notably Mary, sister of Anne Boleyn in 2002’s The Other Boleyn Girl and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, in 2009’s The Red Queen. Both have enjoyed [...]