WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
BACKLASH OVER INDIAN FLOAT RULES
India is facing a growing private sector backlash against a rule change that will lead to a flood of more than $50bn of new shares being listed over three years.
There are concerns that the move could damage the country’s stock market and hamper economic growth.
The Finance Ministry has ordered companies to raise the portion of their shares that are publicly held from the current 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
SEC PROBES SECOND GOLDMAN ASSET
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its inquiries into a complex mortgage-backed deal by Goldman Sachs that was not part of the civil fraud charges filed against the bank in April, according to people close to the matter.
SEC interest in Hudson Mezzanine Funding, a $2bn collaterised debt obligation, comes amid settlement talks with Goldman over accusations that the bank defrauded investors in Abacus, a similar CDO.
Goldman has denied the SEC’s complaint.
EU URGED TO SPEED FINANCE RULES
France and Germany put on a show of unity yesterday in order to urge fellow European Union leaders to accelerate efforts to tighten financial regulation and clamp down on short selling.
In a joint letter to José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, called for proposals within a month to regulate trading in sovereign credit default swaps – a form of insurance against government debt default – and short selling.
THE TIMES
INSURANCE TAX PREMIUMS MAY RISE
Speculation is growing that the Government is planning to at least double the 5 per cent tax rate on general insurance premiums in this month’s emergency Budget.
Increasing the rate charged on items such as car, household and pet cover could raise billions of pounds in additional tax revenues, but would drive up the cost of policies and could force some people to stop buying essential protection, experts said.
FOXCONN TO PASS ON WAGE RISE COST
Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles gadgets for Apple, Dell and Sony, said that it would start passing on to its customers the cost of massive wage rises at its Chinese factories. The news came only a day after Foxconn told workers at its Shenzhen plant in China that it would raising their basic salary by 70 per cent.
The Daily Telegraph
SIR FRED BUYS £3.5M PROPERTY
Sir Fred Goodwin, the disgraced banker blamed for the near-collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland, has bought a secluded home that has been described as one of Edinburgh’s finest houses.
The £3.5m property was originally built by Graeme Souness, the former Rangers manager, and has been redesigned and extended since.
US PE HIT OUT AT INTEREST TAX PLANS
The American private equity industry has warned that plans to more than double the US tax rate on investment partnerships could lead to a sharp reduction in the amount of money being invested in the economy and a loss in jobs.
The warning comes after three years of open discussion on the most appropriate tax code for private equity managers, venture
WALL STREET JOURNAL
ENEL TO TEST NEW FORM OF SOLAR POWER
In the industrialised Eastern Sicilian town of Priolo Gargallo, Italian energy company Enel is about to begin testing a new form of solar power that, it says, has the potential to displace older technology.
In the coming weeks, Enel will switch on a power plant with a generation capacity of up to five megawatts, linked to an adjacent 752MW gas-fired facility.
FRANCE SELLS BUILDINGS TO CUT DEBT
Other countries are looking to privatize state-owned companies to cut the debt. France is looking to sell ministry buildings, royal hunting lodges and 1,700 properties to chip away at the country’s record-high debt while getting rid of the high-maintenance part of the state’s vast property portfolio.