News

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

Hedgies plot new directive

October 11, 2009

REPRESENTATIVES of the hedge fund industry will this week put forward an alternative to the European Commission’s (EC) alternative investment fund managers (AIFM) directive, which they say would devastate Europe’s hedge fund industry. The Alternative Investment Managers’ Association (Aima) has been leading lobbying efforts to revise the directive and believes that it has secured sufficient [...]
Era of cheap mortgages is gone forever

October 11, 2009

WITH official interest rates stuck at rock-bottom levels, consumers could be forgiven for wondering why mortgage rates remain so high. The answer, I’m afraid, is that the era of excessively cheap mortgages is gone forever in the UK. Over time, this will be no bad thing but in the short term it will prove cripplingly [...]
Barclays mulls 4bn sale

October 11, 2009

Barclays is considering the sale of a portfolio of credit assets worth £4bn as it continues to clean up its balance sheet in an attempt to further reassure investors. A sale would follow last month’s deal in which the bank effectively ring-fenced $12.3bn (£7.8bn) in risky credit market assets by packaging them into a fund, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING

October 11, 2009

THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphBORIS JOHNSON WARNS EU TO KEEP OUT OF THE CITYBritain’s financial sector, which creates billions of pounds in revenue for the Treasury, is under threat from European legislation and an increasing tax burden on high-earning individuals, a report from the Mayor of London’s office says. The report, released this week, says that [...]
NatEx bidders need more time

October 11, 2009

National Express is this week expected to give the Cosmen-CVC consortium a further two weeks to complete the due diligence required for it to secure loans for its £765m bid for the transport group. The consortium is said to have requested the deadline extension after NatEx complained about its tactics in gathering data, including offering [...]
Citi fined for offshore activity

October 11, 2009

Citigroup is to receive a $600,000 (£378,500) fine over derivatives transactions which helped foreign clients avoid paying taxes on dividends. The move by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is part of US authorities’ tougher stance on offshore tax activity. The fine is to be levied against Citigroup Global Markets, and is partly related to the [...]
Bonus row to flare up again

October 11, 2009

THE row over bonuses for investment bankers is due to be reignited this week, as Goldman Sachs prepares to announce a huge layout on pay, expected to be almost double the figure allocated last year. The Wall Street investment bank unveils third quarter profits on Thursday, with analysts predicting pre-tax profits of $3.5bn (£2.2bn) for [...]
Osborne: Tories have a high regard for Turner’s abilities

October 11, 2009

The Tories said last night that they admired Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Adair Turner, but that it was too early to speculate whether they would hand him a top job at the Bank of England (BoE). Commenting on talk that Turner could become deputy to the governor of the BoE if the conservatives win [...]
Blackstone says the worst is over for private equity industry

October 11, 2009

BUY-OUT giant Blackstone is set to list up to eight of its companies and sell five more, as the firm sees the fog lifting for private equity firms. Blackstone founder Steve Schwarzman wrote to investors on Friday, predicting that the world is “changing once again” and that, for the private equity industry, “the worst is [...]
Tullett set to square up to BGC in court

October 11, 2009

TULLETT Prebon and BGC Partners will this week commence battle in the High Court, as the City hangs attentively on every word to glean sensational details about the aggressive high-octane world of inter-dealer broking. Tullett, led by City veteran Terry Smith, alleges that BGC tried to poach at least 55 of its top broking staff [...]