Regulation can’t wipe out the risk of another Enron January 5, 2012 MOST of us don’t need reminding about the 2001 accounting fraud that became known as the Enron scandal – $11bn of value wiped out in what was at the time the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy ever – and which also brought down Arthur Andersen. On 17 December last year, Enron’s chief financial officer Andrew Fastow [...]
Euro crisis fells seventh leader and another bank November 21, 2011 THE EUROZONE crisis claimed yet another leader’s scalp yesterday, after Spain’s centre-right party swept to power in a landslide victory. And Spain’s central bank yesterday seized Banco de Valencia, making it the latest casualty of the collapse in the property boom and the first retail bank in the country to seek a bailout. The restructuring [...]
Euro crisis fells seventh leader and another bank November 21, 2011 THE EUROZONE crisis claimed yet another leader’s scalp yesterday, after Spain’s centre-right party swept to power in a landslide victory. And Spain’s central bank yesterday seized Banco de Valencia, making it the latest casualty of the collapse in the property boom and the first retail bank in the country to seek a bailout. The restructuring [...]
Berlusconi to quit – at last November 8, 2011 EMBATTLED Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will step down once new austerity measures are passed, President Giorgio Napolitano announced last night. The government successfully passed a usually routine finance bill yesterday, but only because the opposition Democratic Party abstained. Berlusconi lost his majority in the process, triggering calls for his departure. The euro bounced back [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 24, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG TO PROTECT IRRATIONAL INVESTORS Investors cannot be counted on to make rational choices so regulators need to “step into their footprints” and limit or ban the sale of potentially harmful products, the head of the UK’s new consumer protection watchdog said yesterday. In his first big interview since starting work last autumn, [...]
A wholesale improvement is the only way for UK banks to weather the Eurozone storm December 21, 2011 FOR the past fifteen months, the Bank of England (BoE) has been backpedalling. Instead of coasting, the UK economy has stalled. The government’s bold and sensible plans for budget deficit reduction are broadly on track for the next few months, but will not remain so unless the central bank shapes up to the challenge of [...]
House prices rise for third month November 29, 2011 House prices edged up in November, beating expectations and despite a weak economy, but activity remains subdued and prices are more likely to dip in the next 12 months, mortgage lender Nationwide said. House prices rose 0.4 per cent from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, their third straight monthly increase, a Nationwide survey showed. [...]
Community service vow cuts Rooney’s Euro 2012 ban December 8, 2011 ENGLAND striker Wayne Rooney succeeded in persuading European chiefs to cut his Euro 2012 ban to two matches yesterday after agreeing to undertake a stint of community service. Governing body Uefa reduced Rooney’s original three-match ban, handed out for his red card in October’s qualifier in Montenegro, freeing him to face Ukraine in England’s final [...]
Moody’s warns over ratings of all Euro area bonds November 28, 2011 Moody’s Investors Service has warned the rapid escalation of the Eurozone sovereign and banking crisis threatens the credit standing of all European government bond ratings. “While Moody’s central scenario remains that the euro area will be preserved without further widespread defaults, even this ‘positive’ scenario carries very negative rating implications in the interim period,” the [...]
Tensions flare on eve of Europe summit October 25, 2011 A flare-up over the European Central Bank and political turmoil in Italy have kept the Eurozone on edge on the eve of a summit meant to confront the currency bloc’s worsening sovereign debt crisis. Just 24 hours before European leaders are due to adopt a plan to reduce Greece’s debt burden, fortify European banks to [...]