A windfall tax on banks is a bad idea October 7, 2009 IT is now clear that the Tories have it in for the banks. I wrote in this space yesterday about their interest in reviving a version of Lord Howe’s 1981 windfall tax on high street banks; we now know in much more detail one of the ideas they are working on, courtesy of revelations in [...]
WOULD LIVING WILLS FOR BANKS BE A GOOD IDEA OR NOT? September 15, 2009 NIC CLARKE CHARLES STANLEYLiving wills would not be simple to draw up and might prove to be far more complicated for some banks to implement than others. But a safety valve needs to be imposed which would mean that no institution is ‘too big to fail’, as a bank could be wound up quickly, with [...]
Goldman in talks to extend its CIT loan October 5, 2009 LLOYD Blankfein, chairman of Goldman Sachs, is in talks with CITGroup which could see the investment bank’s $3bn (£1.88bn) loan to the stricken lender extended. In the latest of a series of lifeline deals designed to save ailing CIT, Goldman is considering changing the terms on an emergency loan it made in June 2008 to [...]
Banks and retailers rally to steer the FTSE 100 ahead May 27, 2009 GAINS in banks and retailers outweighed weakness in energy stocks and drugmakers yesterday to leave the FTSE 100 up by 0.1 per cent, or 4.51 points, at 4,416.23. Trade was thin with just 67 per cent of the average of the last 90 days of trading transacted with the absence of concrete data on the [...]
MPS: CITY STILL DOESN’T GET IT May 14, 2009 THE CITY launched a counter-offensive against MPs yesterday, after the Treasury select committee criticised Lord Adair Turner’s review of regulatory reform and cast doubt on Sir David Walker’s suitability to lead a review of corporate governance in the banking sector. The influential group of MPs concluded in its report on the role of remuneration in the [...]
NEW BOSS NORMAN PREPARES TO BRING THE ROMANCE BACK TO ITV November 18, 2009 THE market has roundly welcomed ex-Asda boss and former Tory MP Archie Norman’s appointment to the chairman’s seat at ITV, but has anyone considered the most pressing question it throws up for the broadcaster? Allow me to explain. Back in Norman’s retail days, perhaps the most exciting new initiative at Asda was the introduction of [...]
Marston’s and GKN are next to raise cash June 18, 2009 THE WAVE of companies seeking to raise fresh capital from shareholders showed no sign of abating yesterday as engineer GKN and pub group Marston’s both announced rights issues. GKN aims to raise £423m, while Marston’s is asking the market for £176m. GKN’s 50p offer price represents a 39 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price. [...]
US consumer confidence boosts late London trading May 26, 2009 BETTER than expected consumer confidence data out of the US gave the FTSE 100 a much-needed boost yesterday afternoon, after Asia’s sell-off – driven by concerns of heightening geopolictical tension on the Korean peninsula – infected the London markets in early trading. “Following the release of the US consumer confidence data there was an immediate [...]
FTSE 100 stalls as traders nerves fail on banking sector May 28, 2009 RENEWED jitters over the health of the financial sector hit banks and offset gains by heavyweight oils yesterday, sending the FTSE 100 0.7 per cent, or 28.69 points, lower at 4,387.54. Banks were the worst performing large caps, with Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland down 0.8 per cent [...]
DOT COM SURVIVOR TURNS HAND TO HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITING December 3, 2009 IN the wake of the credit crunch, the dotcom crash of 2001 feels like a small murmur in the history of the City. But ever wondered what happened to those guys who brought open-necked shirts, scooters and start-ups to the Square Mile? Well, one of those who rode the dotcom rollercoaster is now about to [...]