The real causes of the crisis of 2008 July 1, 2010 FOR all the latest furore surrounding bankers’ bonuses and the rest, we have yet again lost sight of how the crisis actually began, and politicians and regulators’ central role in promoting it. There were many factors, of course, with private institutions often behaving foolishly – but sub-prime lending, the crisis’ central catalyst, was promoted by [...]
BP in £470m battle with Transocean June 27, 2010 BP AND Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, look set to enter into a legal bloodbath after the oil major has given notice that it will issue a £470m claim against the rig’s insurance policy. The two are set to go head to head over who will cover costs linked to the tragic Gulf [...]
Australian bank investors lose US court case June 24, 2010 FOREIGN investors who bought shares of National Australia Bank on an overseas stock exchange cannot sue in a New York court over large writedowns related to the bank’s onetime US mortgage unit, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The justices upheld a ruling by a US appeals court that dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that [...]
Standard Chartered June 17, 2010 STRATEGIC tie-ups rarely add up to much unless both players are willing to put money where their mouth is. That’s why Standard Chartered is almost certainly going to become a cornerstone investor in AgBank when it launches its likely record-breaking IPO. This is about much more than shaking hands. StanChart’s reasons are well-known. This year, [...]
The accidental transport secretary turns his sights on planes and trains June 15, 2010 IT wasn’t meant to be like this. If the Tories had won an outright majority on 7 May, Philip Hammond would have gone to the Treasury as chief secretary and implemented the toughest spending cuts in a generation. As part of the coalition agreement, however, he had to step aside for a Liberal Democrat and [...]
The accidental transport secretary turns his sights on planes and trains June 15, 2010 IT wasn’t meant to be like this. If the Tories had won an outright majority on 7 May, Philip Hammond would have gone to the Treasury as chief secretary and implemented the toughest spending cuts in a generation. As part of the coalition agreement, however, he had to step aside for a Liberal Democrat and [...]
EasyJet to use hi-tech ash cloud radar June 4, 2010 EasyJet has unveiled a high-tech radar system to allow planes to fly around ash clouds after figures showing 215,000 of their passengers had been hit by the Icelandic volcano. In its data for last month the airline revealed that 1,600 flights were cancelled after the ash cloud billowed across Europe. The new technology it is [...]
EasyJet to launch volcano claims suit May 31, 2010 BUDGET airline easyJet is planning to launch a class action lawsuit to claim compensation for lost revenue during the Europe-wide flight ban. EasyJet, which lost up to £75m during last month’s closure of European airspace is hoping to group together with a number of airlines to make a legal claim. Chief executive Andy Harrison said [...]
Unleash your inner Borg this summer May 24, 2010 OF ALL sports, tennis is surely the one best enjoyed in summer, or the few weeks of the year when the sun deigns us worthy of a few rays. Who wants to dust off their racket to play indoors or under grey skies on some unforgiving-to-the-knees all-weather court? Very few people, if our dearth of [...]
British Land assets rise by a quarter May 18, 2010 BRITISH Land has seen the value of its portfolio shoot up, off the back of a rapid rebound in real estate values. The developer of some of the UK’s biggest malls and offices said its assets increased by 27 per cent, the first full-year mark-up in its portfolio since the UK property bubble burst. “In [...]