News

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

Bernard Madoff’s belongings are sold for almost $1m to help Ponzi victims

November 15, 2009

BERNARD Madoff’s possessions raised almost $1m (£599,000) when they went under the hammer to help victims of the disgraced fund manager’s $65bn Ponzi scheme. Auctioneers raised twice the amount expected, as around 500 bidders crammed into Manhattan’s Sheraton Hotel to buy a piece of Wall Street history. Top sellers included Madoff’s Mets baseball jacket, which [...]
ECONOMICS GURU MAGNUS WOWS THE CROWDS ON SPEAKER CIRCUIT

November 15, 2009

GEORGE Magnus, senior economic adviser to investment bank UBS, has a fair few accolades to his name – not least the dubious honour of having predicted the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression in an uncannily prophetic research paper. But I hear the dapper 60-year-old has recently earned himself a new title, that [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK

November 15, 2009

IN SPITE of the return of the monster bonus, it seems bankers are still keen to show they’re savvy when it comes to watching the pennies. This, of course, is all relative, since most people wouldn’t consider forking out £1,017.28 on dinner for three as tantamount to saving money. But one banker in the party [...]
Former Boots boss launches Matalan bid

November 15, 2009

Former Boots chief executive Richard Baker is at the forefront of a £1.5bn private equity bid for out-of-town retailer Matalan. Advent International, where Baker was recently hired as an operating partner, is the latest name to be added to the string of private equity firms believed to be circling the retailer. Matalan, which specialises in [...]
Shoe Zone mergers kick the crunch

November 15, 2009

SHOE ZONE, the bargain retailer that saved the Stead & Simpson and Shoe Express chains from administration, recorded an £8.1m pre-tax profit last year. Although overall operating profit was down from £8m to £6.9m, accounts show the company’s recent acquisitions – Stead & Simpson, which it snatched from the jaws of closure and Shoefayre, the [...]
Tullett, BGC return to High Court after evidence from City veteran Terry Smith

November 15, 2009

THE High Court battle between inter-dealer brokers Tullett Prebon and BGC Partners will resume today after a weekend in which the court was left to ponder evidence given on Friday by colourful City veteran Terry Smith. Smith, Tullett’s chief executive, who denied calling his former chief operating officer Tony Verrier a “dead gladiator” and saying [...]
ROLLS-ROYCEMOTORSON

November 15, 2009

Rolls-Royce has won a $1.5bn (£897m) order with Air China to power 20 aircraft, and a second order with Ethiopian Airlines worth $480m. Speaking at the Dubai Airshow yesterday, the engine maker said the aircraft will be delivered to Air China from 2011 and that Ethiopian Airlines’ planes will enter service in 2017.
Biggest bank in Japan set to raise $11bn

November 15, 2009

JAPAN’S biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is set to launch the biggest-ever cash call by a Japanese financial firm. Mitsubishi is believed to be preparing to issue about $11bn (£6.6bn) in new shares to meet stricter capital requirements and boost lending in Asia. The share issue of about one trillion yen is believed [...]
US and China are set in spending and saving habits

November 15, 2009

Alistair Darling has played host to the world’s most important money men (and women) a few times already this year, most recently in his native Scotland, but he might be forgiven for feeling a bit envious as the world looks to where the really important decisions are being made this week: at the Singapore meeting [...]
Evolution ups private client ante

November 15, 2009

EVOLUTION group chief executive Alex Snow is today set to confirm the hire of private banker Philip Howell to head up its wealth management business, Williams de Broë. Howell, who formerly ran Fortis private bank’s operations in the UK, Channel Islands, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar and Monaco, will become chief executive of the division. He takes [...]