SFO appeals Saudi case July 8, 2008 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday told the House of Lords it did not act unlawfully when it ended its investigation into a £43bn Saudi arms deal. The case against the SFO is being brought by the pressure groups the Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Corner House who say the case should be reopened. [...]
Microsoft in bid to oust Yahoo board July 8, 2008 Steve Ballmer is willing to reconsider an offer for Yahoo – but only if the board goes Software giant Microsoft is willing to reopen talks to buy internet firm Yahoo, it said yesterday – but only if dissident investor Carl Icahn’s attempt to oust the board is successful. Microsoft broke off negotiations to acquire the [...]
Customised betting could reap benefits July 7, 2008 You can now personalise your betting screen to improve your chances, writes Katie Hope If you get a suit made, then you might want to go for a bespoke one, so that you can make sure it fits you, with all your quirks and peculiarities. And when you buy a new car, the first thing [...]
Knife murder parents plead with killers July 7, 2008 The parents of one of the two French students murdered in London a week ago in a frenzied knife attack appealed yesterday for the killer to come forward and said they would not rest until the guilty party was found. Bio-engineering students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23, were bound, gagged and repeatedly stabbed [...]
Bradford & Bingley bankruptcy feared July 7, 2008 Fears that mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley is on the brink of bankruptcy have heightened following rating agency Moody’s decision to cut the cash strapped banks’ rating to Baa1, the lowest of any major British bank. “Our bankruptcy probability is increased to 25 per cent. UK property is 40 per cent over valued and B&B [...]
Severn could face further Ofwat fines July 7, 2008 Severn Trent Water may face further financial sanctions that may run into millions from regulator Ofwat in the final act of the long-running saga over misleading data about its leakage rates. The water business, which services eight million people in the Midlands and Wales, became the first British utility firm to be convicted of criminal [...]
Sky to miss crucial subscribers target July 7, 2008 Satellite broadcaster BSkyB looks set to miss its important internal target of subscribing 10m customers by 2010, as growth in the pay-TV sector begins to slow. In fiscal 2007, Sky signed 406,000 new customers to its satellite service, and needs to add a further 400,000 each year to meet its goal in 2010. It is [...]
Berkeley pays bosses £60m July 7, 2008 Multi-Millionaire property entrepreneur Tony Pidgley and three of his fellow directors at housebuilder Berkeley Group are getting a £60m pay-out, it has emerged. Pidgley and the three other members of the management team will net around 7 per cent of the company, which is valued at around £770m. The pay-outs come at a time when [...]
Merrill eyes Bloomberg sale July 7, 2008 American investment bank Merrill Lynch is in negotiations to sell its 20 per cent stake in financial data and news firm Bloomberg, as it seeks to raise more cash to firm up its balance sheet. Talks with the firm’s founder and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg are still at an early stage, according to those [...]
Sugar for Mayor? July 4, 2008 If you thought the last London Mayoral elections were farcical, just wait for the next lot. Boris Johnson has only been in office for a matter of weeks, yet there is already speculation about who Labour might put up against the gaffe-prone oaf in May 2012. Two-term incumbent Ken Livingstone, who Johnson dethroned this year, [...]