Investors brace for Irish bank bond swaps November 26, 2010 EXPECTATIONS grew today that bondholders in Irish banks may be offered the chance to swap billions of euros of debt for new bonds, sharing the pain as they realise a loss – but avoiding a potentially worse outcome. Such tenders have been used successfully by Irish and other European banks during the financial crisis. to [...]
Market cools as property prices tumble November 4, 2010 AVERAGE property prices have fallen 1.2 per cent in the last three months, according to the latest Halifax house price index. The closely watched index from the Lloyds Banking Group-owned lender showed house prices rose 1.8 per cent in October which helped to partially reverse the 3.7 per cent decline from the previous month. But [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 25, 2010 Lazard The financial advisory and asset management firm has hired Fotis Hasiotis as co-head of the European financial sponsors group, based in London. Hasiotis joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was head of EMEA financial sponsors. He originally joined Merrill’s New York team in 2004 from CIBC World Markets, later moving to [...]
French step up strikes in pensions row October 17, 2010 FRENCH truck drivers vowed to block key roads from last night and rail unions announced new strikes from today, putting fresh pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy over his unpopular pension reform. New action by truckers and rail workers, continuing strikes by refinery workers and the threat of more street marches in the drive to force [...]
French step up strikes in pensions row October 17, 2010 FRENCH truck drivers vowed to block key roads from last night and rail unions announced new strikes from today, putting fresh pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy over his unpopular pension reform. New action by truckers and rail workers, continuing strikes by refinery workers and the threat of more street marches in the drive to force [...]
THE ART OF PEACEFUL PROTEST (IN SWINDON) September 1, 2010 IN an age where Facebook protests can reach hundreds of thousands of members within a few hours, often for the most spurious reasons – the lynching of women who put cats in bins being a recent example – it’s nice to see a good old fashioned show of dissent. One-man-army Paul Slennett, owner of three [...]
Confidence is on the up in spite of cuts September 13, 2010 CONSUMER confidence rose last month bucking the downward trend of the previous three months as expectations for the future of the economy appeared to improve on the back of positive second quarter GDP growth and improving employment statistics. Nationwide’s consumer confidence index rose five points to 61 in August although the index remains significantly below [...]
Set your trades on firm foundations September 19, 2010 HOUSE asking prices fell again today, dropping by 1.1 per cent – that is £2,474 – over two points in the house price spread better’s mind. But those tempted by the news on page one should not rush into a trade before taking a moment to contemplate the make up of the index. Today’s figures [...]
Ireland bets all on £43bn bailout plan September 30, 2010 BANK of Ireland was forced to reassure savers their money was safe yesterday following the republic’s revelation that the cost of Ireland’s banking crisis could surge as high as €50bn (£43bn) – as it revealed further bailouts for Anglo Irish Bank, Allied Irish Banks and Irish Nationwide. “Customers can have confidence in Bank of Ireland [...]
Unions threaten mass cuts protests September 12, 2010 THE Trades Union Conference (TUC) issued a stark set of warnings about industrial unrest later this year after it said public spending cuts will hit the UK’s poorest 13 times harder than the richest. Unions will discuss during their three-day annual conference whether to launch a nationwide set of strikes. Labour candidate Ed Miliband has [...]