Beware: we could soon face new bubble September 24, 2009 UNTIL recently, the worry about quantitative easing was that it was not working well enough, a view which has long stuck me as excessively pessimistic. But in recent days several top economists have started to express fears the policy may actually have worked too well and that all of the liquidity being injected into the [...]
A Tobin tax would destroy London without making the world safer November 8, 2009 It is imperative that Gordon Brown’s proposals to levy a Tobin tax on financial transactions be defeated. Such a tax would be a disaster: it would endanger Britain’s economic interests and do nothing for ordinary taxpayers or the stability of the financial system. Championing such a scheme reflects a failure to engage with the real [...]
Lehman Bros bondholders may be owed up to 44bn September 14, 2009 THE trustee holders of collapsed Lehman Brothers’ senior bonds said the debt holders may be owed as much as $73bn (£44bn), after losing their investments when the bank filed for bankruptcy protection a year ago, according to court documents. Wilmington Trust Company claims that holders of the senior debt of the failed bank are estimated [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 5, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES FERREXPO SEES IRON MARKET SHIFTFerrexpo signalled that iron ore demand was shifting back to Europe after being heavily reliant on China, as the Ukranian miner unveiled an 81 per cent drop in first-half profits. Ferrexpo reacted to the collapse in demand from steelmakers in Austria by selling iron ore pellets to China, incurring [...]
Bank of America is shrinking July 28, 2009 BANK of America plans to shrink its 6,109-branch United States network after years of expansion. America’s largest bank has denied claims it will shed 10 per cent of its branches – a move that would cost thousands of jobs – but admits there will have to be cuts because more of its customers are using [...]
Latest big bank to shut down hits US August 16, 2009 US BANK Colonial BancGroup, which has assets of $25bn (£15.1bn), became the largest American bank to fail so far this year when it was shut down by federal officials on Friday. On the same day, regulators also shut down two institutions in Arizona – one in Las Vegas and one in Pittsburgh – pushing the total [...]
Strength of Abbey helps Santander to a half-year profit July 29, 2009 SPANISH bank Santander is reaping the benefits from its acquisitions, as the first half attributable profit at its UK operations rose nearly 63 per cent to £790m, from £485m last year. Santander-owned Abbey, including recent purchases Alliance & Leicester and the savings book of Bradford & Bingley, saw a 20 per cent rise in revenues [...]
Osborne in expenses probe July 2, 2009 SHADOW chancellor George Osborne is facing an expenses probe by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner following a complaint by the Labour Party chairman for his constituency. Laurie Burton, Labour chair in Osborne’s Tatton constituency, alleges that between 2001 and 2003, Osborne claimed a second home allowance on his main home, a practice known as “flipping”. Burton [...]
Swedish retail giant Ikea to slash workforce again July 7, 2009 THE continued decline in consumer spending is forcing Ikea to downsize its workforce further, and put a sharp halt on planned growth and expansion having already trimmed 5,000 employees from its pay roll. Only weeks after the company had to announce massive global job losses and the abandonment of plans to open stores in India, [...]
Not all banks were given state handouts August 4, 2009 ANOTHER day; another row about banking profits, bonuses and the future of the City. The nationalised Northern Rock’s numbers were poor as expected – but for some reason, the pundits are more concerned with banks that are doing reasonably well. And not any institution: they couldn’t care less about Standard Chartered, a well-managed group which [...]