Nomura to acquire Tricorn Partners
TRICORN Partners, the corporate finance advisory firm, is set to be taken over by Japanese investment bank Nomura. Guy Dawson and Justin Dowley, who have been running Tricorn for seven years since leaving Merrill Lynch, will join Nomura as vice-chairmen of Europe, Middle East and Africa investment banking. This marks a reversal of the trend for bankers to ditch large institutions in favour of smaller independent boutiques.
C Suisse to pay £329m fine to US
CREDIT Suisse shocked the financial markets last night after it revealed it expected to pay US authorities a hefty $536m (£329m) following a probe into its financial dealings with Iran. The Swiss bank said the settlement would likely result in a SFr445m charge this quarter, or a net impact of SFr360m after tax.
City firms in fresh attacks on bonus tax
STEPHEN Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, warned yesterday that the politicisation of bankers’ bonuses could wipe billions of pounds off the taxpayer’s stake in RBS. Treasury plans to levy a one-off 50 per cent tax on bank bonuses have added to woes at the Scottish institution, whose directors were already at loggerheads with the government.
Goldman to fight bonus fury in court
INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs is being sued for billions of dollars in compensation after an institutional shareholder accused it of blindly “looting” the firm’s coffers by paying out rich rewards to its employees.
UBS decides against pursuing its former directors in the courts
SWISS bank UBS will not sue its former bosses after risky bets on subprime mortgages and a strategy of helping its US clients dodge taxes by hiding money in secret accounts brought the seemingly invincible group to its knees.
Harding walks to TalkTalk
DIDO Harding, the former Tesco executive who heads Sainsbury’s convenience stores, is to join TalkTalk as its chief executive when it demerges from Carphone Warehouse. TalkTalk will be Britain’s biggest residential broadband provider when it splits from the retail arm of Carphone Warehouse next year. Harding, who previously held management positions at Thomas Cook and Woolworths, left Tesco in 2007 to head up Sainsbury’s convenience store division. She has also served on the board of property company British Land. Harding will leave Sainsbury’s next Spring.
KPMG turnover falls 1.6pc as M&A weakness cuts tax take
SERVICES giant KPMG saw UK revenues slip 1.6 per cent for the year to September as a decrease in corporate activity took its toll. The firm blamed fewer mergers and acquisitions for the marginal fall in turnover to £1.6bn. Operating profit was down 1.3 per cent to £382m in a tough year that began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Inflation continues to accelerate, fuelled by bumper energy prices
INFLATION accelerated in November to a six-month high of 1.9 per cent as higher energy costs fuelled price rises and pushed the rate closer to the Bank of England’s two per cent target.
Rate of repossessions rises as housing recovery slows
ALMOST 14,000 Britons lost their homes in the third quarter of 2009 as mortgage lenders increased the rate of repossessions, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed yesterday. Repossessions rose 2.8 per cent on the same period of 2008, but the FSA pointed out that the 13,987 properties taken back by lenders was five per cent down on the first quarter of the year.
Kraft labels Cadbury goals too ambitious
KRAFT Foods yesterday hit back at Cadbury for rejecting its £10bn hostile bid, warning shareholders not to put their faith in the British company’s ambitious growth targets
Carpetright piles on profit and closes down its Poland stores The UK’s biggest carpet retailer,
Carpetright, laid out better than expected first-half results yesterday, but closed down its loss making operations in Poland. With more people moving house, underlying profits rose by 58 per cent to £13.9m, with revenues increasing by nine per cent to £258m.
Moulton raises £143m for investment vehicle to target distressed companies
PRIVATE equity industry veteran Jon Moulton has raised £142.4m to invest in struggling businesses through his new investment vehicle. Airlines set to incur far higher losses next year AIRLINE losses caused by the recession will be 47 per cent higher next year than the $3.8bn (£2.3bn) previously forecast by the industry, although passenger numbers are likely to be better than thought.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
The accountancy giant has hired three partners to its financial services consulting practice.Kevin Burrowes, pictured, rejoins the firm from Credit Suisse, where he was head of finance for the EMEA region. GM will pay back its debt faster General Motors (GM), the US car giant, is planning to pay back roughly $8bn (£5.8bn) in debt to the United States and Canada by June, after the government bailed out the company ealier this year. The move indicates a faster payback of the first portion of its bailout than GM had previously committed to make, and is the latest indication that the car market is picking up after being seriously hit in the recession.
