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A powerful parliamentary committee has criticised the Government's handling of
public funds during the financial crisis, ranging from paying excessive bank
fees to failing to secure adequate lending from the part-nationalised banks.
The mooted flotation of Santander's UK business looks like an imperfect
solution to a non-urgent capital problem.
Fears that the eurozone's gathering debt crisis will stall the global recovery
sent the Dow Jones index of US stocks crashing below 10,000 for the first
time since November 4 last night.
Investment banks raked in $66bn (£42bn) in fees last year on the back of a
recovery in equity markets and trading volumes.
A Russian sawmill foreman convicted of a $230m (£150m) tax fraud is suing his
victim, Bill Browder, founder of hedge fund Hermitage Capital Management,
for allegedly defaming his "honour and dignity" by claiming he acted in
collusion with the police.
Pension funds will fight to force down fees paid to hedge funds following
2008's $5bn (£3.2bn) exodus after the financial crisis left hedge funds
struggling to win investors back.
Savers had a dismal 2009, as dividends from the UK's largest companies were
cut by £10bn.
British proposals for a global tax on banks to help pay for the multi-trillion
dollar financial bail-out have gained ground at the G7 meeting of finance
ministers in Canada.
Santander's UK business, the remnants of Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and
Alliance & Leicester, could return to the stock market under a plan
being hatched to list a minority stake of the business in London.
Debt-laden Middle Eastern conglomerate Dubai World is preparing a firesale of
some of its most prestigious assets including the cruise liner QE2 and
circus troupe Cirque du Soleil.
Recession is boom time for debt collectors. At least that's the conventional
thinking. But, in a turn of events unlikely to draw much in the way of
sympathy, the debt collection industry is suffering its own crisis.
Lloyd's of London will tomorrow unveil its largest ever strategic review -
kickstarting what is likely to be one of the most profitable reporting
seasons in the insurance market's 322-year history.
The body which represents Britain's largest shareholding institutions has
questioned Gordon Brown's plans for a global transaction tax on all banks,
suggesting any policy would be unworkable and counter-productive.
The head of Goldman Sachs was last night awarded a $9m (£5.75m) bonus for 2009
just hours after his opposite number at JP Morgan Chase was granted a $16.1m
package.
ICAP, the inter-dealer broker founded by the Conservative Party treasurer
Michael Spencer, has issued a profits warning less than a month after he
sold £45m of shares in the business.
National Australia Bank has been approached by private equity firm Blackstone
and Resolution Group, Clive Cowdery's buy-out vehicle, about a potential
team bid for Royal Bank of Scotland's small business banking assets.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan Chase, has been
given an $18m (£11.5m) cash and shares pay deal in one of Wall Street's
largest compensation packages so far this bonus season.
Lloyds Banking Group has cleared out the final two former HBOS board directors
following the banks' ill-fated merger at the height of the financial crisis.
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has pledged that the British taxpayer
would receive a "healthy profit" from its stakes in Royal Bank of
Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
Michael Spencer, boss of the world's biggest interdealer broker, sold shares
weeks before a profit warning.
Debenhams' CEO angers shareholders by teaming up with private equity firm
Cinven to consider a £500m bid for sofa chain DFS.
Hugh Osmond, the Pizza Express entrepreneur and founder of Punch Taverns, has
raised £418m for his latest venture - Horizon Acquisition - which aims to
buy an over-indebted business and restore its fortunes.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund, is preparing to
take as much as a 15pc stake in Gatwick.
Aviva has been left with a £100m bill after severe weather claims escalated
during the final quarter.
Britain's bonus tax has cost Deutsche Bank €225m (£195m), the German lender
revealed, as it raised staff pay by 18pc.
Copyright The Daily Telegraph