WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
CQS SHUTS FUND BUILT ON SUBPRIME TO NEWCOMERS
CQS, the London-based credit hedge fund that is one of the biggest of its kind globally, is preparing to shut to new investors its asset-backed securities fund – known for its successful bets in the US subprime mortgage market. The move marks a further step in the rebound of CQS, run by Michael Hintze, after it ran into difficulties during the financial crisis. Like many large fund managers specialising in esoteric trading strategies, CQS was nearly sunk at the time as large brokerages.
INVESTORS IN TMX TORN OVER RIVAL BIDS
Shareholders in Canada’s TMX Group are torn between competing bids from the London Stock Exchange and a group of domestic financial institutions, suggesting that neither bidder has yet gained a decisive upper hand. “It’s a tough call,” said a portfolio manager at one Canadian life assurer with a sizeable TMX stake, adding that he had not yet decided which to support.
THE TIMES
AIRPORTS CALL FOR HIGHER TAX ON PASSENGERS FLYING FROM LONDON
A coalition of 12 regional airports including Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol will today urge the Government to impose a “congestion charge” on passengers using London’s crowded terminals in an attempt to lure traffic away from the capital. The regional collective is calling on the Chancellor to impose a higher rate of air passenger duty per ticket on flights from airports that are operating at more than 75 per cent of capacity.
JAPANESE GOVERNMENT OFFERS TEPCO ITS BACKING
Shares in the owner of the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor soared by 32 per cent yesterday after the Japanese Government outlined a bailout plan to prevent the utility collapsing beneath mounting costs and a compensation bill likely to top $100 billion. Analysts said that the plan makes it more likely that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) will stave off insolvency or a delisting from the Tokyo stock exchange.
The Daily Telegraph
DAVID CAMERON’S NHS REFORMS ARE NOW A CAR CRASH, SAYS MILBURN
David Cameron’s watered down health reforms are “the biggest car crash in NHS history” a government advisor warns today. In a devastating critique published in The Daily Telegraph, Alan Milburn says that the changes announced this week in the wake of demands from the Liberal Democrats and opposition from the health establishment represent a “disaster.”
OPEC TO HAUL IN $1 TRILLION AS OIL PRICES INCREASE RISK OF DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION
The cartel of oil-producing countries will have $1 trillion (£600bn) in revenues for the first time this year, benefiting from high prices that may cause a “double-dip recession”. Forecasts from the US government show that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), whose key members include Saudi Arabia and Iran, will collect a third more in revenues because prices have averaged $111 per barrel this year.