UBS escapes Madoff claims March 4, 2010 INVESTORS who lost money to US swindler Bernard Madoff through a fund set up by UBS cannot seek compensation directly from the Swiss bank, a Luxembourg court ruled yesterday, relieving pressure on UBS. The court rejected the demands of a small group of investors in the LuxAlpha fund looking to file individual claims against UBS [...]
Toyota plans quick fix as crisis grows February 1, 2010 TOYOTA detailed plans yesterday to fix 2.4m vehicles equipped with faulty accelerators in the US as the first lawsuits landed on its desk. Lawyers claimed the world’s largest carmaker had endangered drivers by ignoring signs of trouble. Toyota, scrambling to contain the fallout from the sweeping recall on its finances and reputation, said it would [...]
Swiss query tax evasion rules February 22, 2010 Switzerland’s justice minister yesterday questioned whether tax evasion should continue to be treated as a misdemeanour rather than a crime, in another blow to the country’s cherished banking secrecy. Switzerland has already abandoned the distinction between tax evasion — failing to declare your income or wealth to the taxman — and tax fraud — deliberately [...]
Toyota recall hits UK February 3, 2010 TOYOTA will recall over 180,000 vehicles in the UK as part of the ongoing faulty accelerator saga. The embattled car maker says it is working with the DVLA to identify owners of vehicles with faulty accelerator pedals. The vast clean-up operation is over a £9 part that takes just 30 minutes to repair. At least [...]
SEC sues BoA over Merrill January 12, 2010 The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday sued Bank of America for a second time over its takeover of Merrill Lynch, accusing the bank of failing to disclose huge losses at Merrill before shareholders voted on the merger. The SEC filed its civil lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court, a day after a judge [...]
Trump lawsuit thrown out July 15, 2009 A New Jersey judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit for defamation filed by Donald Trump against an author whose book gave an estimate of the real estate developer’s wealth much lower than Trump’s own. Superior Court Judge Michele Fox rejected arguments by Trump’s lawyers that he had been the victim of “actual malice”.
Madoff’s London unit escapes fraud charges February 2, 2010 THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said it will not take any action against Madoff Securities International – a London arm of frausdster Berine Madoff’s business empire. Directors of the Mayfair-based business have also escaped charges as prosecutors had “insufficient evidence”. The SFO said in a statement there isn’t enough evidence to “provide a realistic [...]
Transparent privacy policy gets clouded February 25, 2010 GOOGLE has got itself in hot water in recent days because of a data protection slip up with its new social network, Buzz. Users were able to see other members’ email addresses – and the addresses of their “followers”– without notification or the need to grant people access to this information. The company is now [...]
Toyota adds brake system to calm fears February 17, 2010 TOYOTA will add a brake-override system to all future models worldwide in the wake of brake and accelerator defects that led to the recall of more than 8.5m vehicles. The system cuts engine power when the accelerator and brake pedals are applied at the same time and Toyota hopes the move calms customer fears, particularly [...]
ANALYSTS TAKE THEIR GAMBLE ON WORLD CUP April 7, 2010 WORLD Cup fever is starting to grip the City in earnest ahead of the summer in South Africa, as evidenced by the latest analysts to have a pop at the business impact of the tournament. Sanford Bernstein’s Trevor Stirling, Joao Valli and Melissa Yates yesterday released a missive on the effects of the World Cup [...]