England to triumph at Lord’s despite Australia’s record July 17, 2013 ROBIN HUTCHISON PREVIEWS THE SECOND INVESTEC ASHES TEST THE second Investec Ashes Test, which begins today, has a lot to live up to if it is to match the drama we witnessed at Trent Bridge last week. England prevailed – but by the narrowest of margins – after an enthralling five days, thanks largely to [...]
Back Pietersen to be thorn in side of Aussie bowlers July 17, 2013 Kevin Pietersen will have mixed emotions about his Test match debut against Australia at Lord’s back in the heady and historic summer of 2005. It was all going swimmingly when Steve Harmison ran through the tourists, taking 5-43 and restricting them to just 190 on day one. But when Glenn McGrath skittled England for an [...]
La Casa Negra Shoreditch restaurant review: achingly hip Mexican food with added attitude July 17, 2013 Street food. That’s a thing. Street food! Isn’t it great? It reminds me of that time I was travelling in Guatemala, and some indigenous people were just, you know, making food in the street, and it was all, like, totally authentic. Except that never happened. I’ve forced down slimy noodles in Tokyo; binned inedible grey [...]
Gilts hit by new rigging scandal July 16, 2013 A NEW rigging scandal reared its head in the City yesterday, after it was revealed that an alleged attempt by traders to fix pricing in government bond markets has been under investigation since 2011. The Bank of England’s director of markets Paul Fisher told a panel of MPs that the central bank had passed details [...]
Goldman Sachs back on top as profits double July 16, 2013 EARNINGS more than doubled at Goldman Sachs in the last year, the investment bank revealed yesterday, as the growing economy sent more business its way. It made $1.86bn (£1.23bn) in the second quarter, up from $927m in the same period of 2012. Net revenues jumped 30 per cent to $8.61bn, far outstripping the 14 per [...]
Banks must make plans to fail without bailout cash July 16, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest banks face could face serious structural changes as regulators were last night given powers to rearrange their legal and business setups if it would make winding down a troubled institution easier. Sweeping resolution powers allow the regulators to review banks’ resolution plans every year to make sure they can quickly be either [...]
Time to stop under-reacting to scandals in the public sector July 16, 2013 GOOD intentions are never enough – and in most cases, they don’t even matter. That is one of the central lessons of economics: with the right institutions, including proper property rights, the rule of law and no artificial distortions imposed by politicians, self-interested behaviour in a market economy tends to bring about the common good. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 17 July 2013 July 16, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Dell ultimatum as buyout vote looms Michael Dell faces a last-minute ultimatum from some of his company’s biggest shareholders to raise his $24.4bn buyout offer or risk losing his attempt to regain control of PC maker Dell, say people close to the affair. Several large outside shareholders have told Michael Dell and private [...]
Barclays hit by $453m energy trading fines July 16, 2013 THE US authorities last night confirmed Barclays and four of its traders will have to pay fines totalling $453m (£299m) for allegedly manipulating the Californian energy markets. The bank, which has been fighting the claims, has been given 30 days to pay up by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The regulator said the bank and [...]
MPs slam fraud squad over pay and expenses July 16, 2013 BRITAIN’S fraud-fighting agency was run in a manner that showed disregard for taxpayers’ money, damaging staff morale and undermining its standing, according to a report released today by MPs. The public accounts committee criticises Richard Alderman, the former director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), for his 2008 decision to hire Phillippa Williamson as chief [...]
