WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
EX-LEHMAN CHIEF TO RUN SPAIN’S ECONOMY
Spain’s new government has placed the economy in the hands of Luis de Guindos, former head of Lehman Brothers in Spain, as Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister, seeks to return the country to growth while embarking on a programme of budgetary austerity. As finance minister, Mr de Guindos will be charged with regaining the confidence of international investors.
RECORD NUMBER OF ZERO BONUSES EXPECTED
More banks are likely to award a record number of “zero bonuses” this year and run the risk of legal claims, employment lawyers are predicting. GQ Employment Law, the law firm, says that although banks are well within their rights not to pay bonuses to City workers, in the past they have often taken the commercial decision to pay modest bonuses even to mediocre staff partly to avoid legal challenges.
MUDD TAKES LEAVE AS FORTRESS CHIEF
Daniel Mudd, chief executive of Fortress, is to take a leave of absence from the investment company after he was charged with securities fraud in a civil case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission related to his previous role at Fannie Mae.
TRIPADVISOR’S SHARES FALL ON FIRST DAY OF TRADING
TripAdvisor shares fell on the travel review website’s first day of trading as an independent company but it emerged with a similar valuation to Expedia, the former parent that spun it off. TripAdvisor, which aggregates reviews of hotels and restaurants written by its members, closed with a market value of $3.69bn compared with the $3.72bn value of Expedia, the travel booking website.
THE TIMES
NORTHERN FIRMS MUST FIGHT HARDER FOR SURVIVAL
Companies in the North are finding it much harder to survive than their counterparts in London and the South East. Figures from Experian, the information services provider, show that the number of company failures increased at a much faster rate in the North East, North West and Yorkshire last month.
FORGET KUALA LUMPUR, LONDON IS FOCUS FOR MALAYSIAN INVESTOR
Another prime London property has been snapped up by overseas investors, with a fund set up to promote the economic wellbeing of Malaysia’s indigenous people paying £350m to buy the headquarters of the law giant Linklaters. Permodalan Nasional Berhad of Malaysia has agreed to buy Milton and Shire House on Silk Street from Beacon Capital Partners.
The Daily Telegraph
SHELL SHUTS ITS HUGE BONGA OIL FIELD AFTER LEAK
Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to shut its 200,000 barrel-a-day Bonga oil field off the coast of Nigeria after up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaked into the ocean. The temporary closure is Shell’s second in a week, with a leak of drilling fluid causing the company to abandon a rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday.
BARCLAYS IS MEANEST SAVINGS BANK
Barclays has been named and shamed as Britain’s worst savings bank. It has a far higher proportion of its savings accounts paying derisory rates of interest than any other high street bank. More than seven out of 10 accounts pay 0.5 per cent or less. Worse still, 60 per cent of its savings accounts pay 0.1 per cent or less. By contrast, around a third of savings accounts at Halifax, HSBC and NatWest pay 0.1 per cent or less.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SILVER LAKE FOUNDERS TRIM OWNERSHIP STAKES
The founders of technology-focused private-equity firm Silver Lake are reducing their ownership interests to make room for a younger crop of executives, Bloomberg News reported. This year, Silver Lake has made a number of high-profile bets, including turning an investment in Web-calling firm Skype into a $8.5bn sale to Microsoft.
EX-CEOS SLAM AVON’S JUNG
Avon Products Inc. CEO Andrea Jung is having a hard time letting go, and two of her predecessors are voicing objections. Two former CEOs of the door-to-door beauty company are upset that Ms. Jung, who last week said she would step down, will stay on for at least two years as executive chairman. They fear that her continued presence would make it hard to attract a new leader.