News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Lazard names Ken Jacobs as new boss

November 17, 2009

LAZARD yesterday named insider Kenneth Jacobs as chief executive and chairman, succeeding legendary Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, who died last month. The move was widely expected and signals the investment bank is not seeking to change its focus on merger advisory and restructuring, analysts said. Jacobs, 51, has been with the firm since 1998 [...]
BA pension trustees meet to decide the chairman’s future

November 17, 2009

BRITISH AIRWAYS’ retirement scheme trustees will meet with chairman Roger Maynard today to discuss his future at the helm of the fund. Maynard has come under fire for combining his role as chairman of both BA’s pension funds with board positions at BA and Spain’s Iberia, suggesting a conflict of interests. A spokesman for the [...]
Citi execs get a boost in salary

November 17, 2009

Bailed-out US bank Citigroup has boosted the base salaries for its chief financial officer John Gerspach and a global markets co-head James Forese, but still plans to pay chief executive Vikram Pandit $1 for the year. Gerspach’s annual base salary will increase to $500,000 (£297,000), from $400,000, while Forese is receiving $475,000, compared with $225,000. [...]
Panel says BoA lied over Merrill

November 17, 2009

Democrats on the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday accused Bank of America of knowing about Merrill Lynch’s huge losses in November 2008, suggesting the bank lied to investors in saying it did not grasp the depth of the problems until later. The panel unveiled documents they said show the bank was alarmed [...]
US and China hit wall over yuan debate

November 17, 2009

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is due to visit The Great Wall of China today – but at the end of his tour of the region it seems the stumbling block of China’s currency is just as tough to surmount. Obama yesterday urged China to let its yuan currency rise in value at a summit where [...]
M&S launches first ever bond buy-back plan

November 17, 2009

MARKS and Spencer yesterday announced it would be embarking on its first tender offer to shareholders in its 125-year history. The retail bellwether said it plans to buy back up to £225m of bonds from investors and issue new debt, becoming the latest firm to take advantage of attractive market conditions. The clothing, homewares and [...]
UBS outlines profit goals in recovery plan

November 17, 2009

UBS, the giant Swiss bank, has set itself a mountain to climb, unveiling an ambitious profit target of $15bn (£8.9bn) within three to five years. Chief executive Oswald Gruebel stunned banking experts yesterday with a range of ambitious hurdles along the bank’s path to recovery. UBS, which took the full brunt of the subprime crisis, [...]
October jump in inflation is first of many

November 17, 2009

INFLATION accelerated in October for the first time in eight months as economists warned that last month’s bounce might spell the beginning of several months of increases. Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed yesterday that the consumer prices index (CPI) rose to an annual rate of 1.5 per cent in October, [...]
Bailey tells banks not to rely on state bailouts in the future

November 17, 2009

BANKS should not rely on taxpayers’ money to bail them out if they are caught out by another crisis, the Bank of England’s executive director for banking services Andrew Bailey said yesterday, echoing comments made by the Bank’s deputy governor Paul Tucker on Monday. Speaking in Madrid, Bailey said: “We cannot justify having a banking [...]