Oil firm sorts a big part of its sprawling courtroom drama March 4, 2012 IT almost came down to the wire. Just as well it didn’t, given BP’s settlement involves more than 100,000 victims, along with their 340 lawyers from about 90 law firms. Imagine the risk assessment for a deal struck on the courthouse steps. Friday’s long-awaited settlement, tabled after the enormous trial in New Orleans was delayed [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Barclays’ tax deals face US scrutiny Barclays’ controversial tax planning business will come under fresh scrutiny in a US court this week over whether a transaction designed by the bank cost the US government more than $1bn in lost tax receipts. The US Internal Revenue Service claims that complex, cross-border deals Barclays structured [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Barclays’ tax deals face US scrutiny Barclays’ controversial tax planning business will come under fresh scrutiny in a US court this week over whether a transaction designed by the bank cost the US government more than $1bn in lost tax receipts. The US Internal Revenue Service claims that complex, cross-border deals Barclays structured [...]
Yahoo battles for licensing fees as it launches patent war with Facebook February 28, 2012 THE ever-growing string of patent lawsuits between technology firms has branched out to social media companies as Yahoo and Facebook scrap over intellectual property. Waning search site Yahoo has asserted claims on a variety of mechanisms used by Facebook, including the way it operates its adverts, privacy controls, news feed and messaging service. The list [...]
Publishing’s future hangs in the balance: This is no time to pick winners April 12, 2012 IN THE tradition of digital success leading to massive antitrust lawsuits, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) this week filed a suit against Apple and five publishers for allegedly conspiring to keep ebook prices artificially high. Apple’s epublishing rival Amazon rubbed salt on the wound by promptly cutting its Kindle ebook prices even further. But [...]
Sibling rivalry: Samsung boss sued by brother for inheritance sum February 14, 2012 THE CHAIRMAN of Samsung is being sued by his brother for 700bn Korean won (£397m) over an inheritance of company shares from their father. Lee Maeng-Hee, 80, is suing Lee Ken-Hee, the 70 year old chairman of the South Korean electronics company, over eight million shares in Samsung Life Insurance and 20 shares in the [...]
Wall Street should hold off on the champagne for now April 16, 2012 ON first glance, it’s rather hard to find the good news among all the negative numbers in Citigroup’s latest batch of figures. Headline profits and revenues fell slightly and yet the bank’s share price rose 1.8 per cent yesterday, adding around $1.8bn to its value. The rise is a sign that markets think that normality [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES AstraZeneca faces calls for shake-up Some of the biggest investors in AstraZeneca are calling for a radical shake-up of the board and executive team, as a new chairman prepares to join the underperforming Anglo-Swedish pharma group. With the company trading on the lowest price/earnings multiple in the sector, some shareholders have been lobbying [...]
BAA mulls a fresh lawsuit in sell-off spat July 19, 2011 BAA said it is considering judicial review after the Competition Commission ruled yesterday that the airport operator must sell Stansted and Glasgow or Edinburgh airport. In its final report, the commission said that the sales process for London’s third-largest airport Stansted would start in three months’ time, and would be followed by the sale of [...]
Banks settle on mortgages February 9, 2012 FIVE US banks accused of abusive mortgage practices have agreed to a $25bn government settlement that may help one million borrowers. The record state-federal settlement will spread relief in the form of mortgage relief and $2,000 payments to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure. It will also release the banks – Bank of America, [...]