WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
KWOK BROS ARRESTED BY HK WATCHDOG
The billionaire brothers who run Hong Kong’s largest property company were arrested yesterday in connection with a corruption investigation that has stunned the territory’s tight-knit business community.
HARSH M&A LANDSCAPE HITS BANKS
Investment banks face the prospect of another disappointing year as companies put off dealmaking, depressing fees for the first quarter of 2012 to their lowest level for three years.
OSBORNE TAKES ON LABOUR ON SPENDING
George Osborne will challenge Labour to match a detailed coalition programme of cuts stretching into the middle of the next parliament in an attempt to “finish the job” of eliminating the structural budget deficit by 2017.
DALIO TOPS HEDGE FUND PAY LIST
Ray Dalio – head of Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund – personally made $3.9bn in a year that his $70bn Pure Alpha fund produced $13.8bn of investment profits for its investors, according to industry rankings. He tops a list published today by Absolute Return magazine.
THE TIMES
REALITY CATCHES UP WITH PROPERTY STAR
A tough-talking former interrogator on The Apprentice who made millions in property before the recession has been made bankrupt. Paul Kemsley was one of the best-known figures in London property circles.
COURT BLUNDERS BLAMED ON PROSECUTORS
Errors by Crown prosecutors are leading to about 63,000 criminal cases a year across England and Wales being wrongly dropped or unjustifiably brought to trial, inspectors found. It is estimated that the mistakes are being made in seven per cent of cases a year.
The Daily Telegraph
GERMANY SET TO COUNTER ECB
Germany is preparing a raft of measures to safeguard its financial system and prevent excess stimulus from the European Central Bank leaking into an inflationary credit boom. Berlin is worried that the ECB’s interest rates are too low for Germany.
BUILDING SOCIETY OFFERS CHARITY BOND
Newcastle Building Society has united with the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation to launch a charity Isa. The new account aims to net the cancer charity some vital cash whilst offering competitive rates.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
HUNGARY WON’T CUT RATES
The Hungarian central bank doesn’t see any room for a cut of its base interest rate, the highest in the European Union, until risk perceptions improve. National Bank deputy governor Ferenc Karvalits said they must wait for “significant improvement” in the country’s risk perception.
AIRBUS UNDAUNTED BY A350 DELAYS
Airbus is confident that its new A350 jetliner, now in development, is on schedule to be launched in 2014 according to Didier Evrard who is leading the programme.