Over the coming weeks JPMorgan Chase & Co. is to take a number of steps to facilitate the proper integration of the businesses of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. This will entail JPMorgan Chase taking on the preferred stock and debt securities that was Bear Stearns’, as well as ending the reporting obligations of the [...]
Nigerian firm Oceanic Bank International Plc has reached an agreement with Ogun State to create more than 2,000 units of housing. In addition, Oceanic Bank is to act as the lead arranger for a syndicated loan of N5bn. Dr. Kunle Salako, Ogun State’s commissioner of housing, made the announcement whilst presenting his strategic brief State [...]
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has today released its Statement of Intent (SOI) for the period 2008-2011. Governor Alan Bollard has said that the document was formulated during an era of uncertainty for the economic future. As with much of the rest of the world, New Zealand’s economic activity has been in a recent [...]
Dutch bank ING has announced the appointment of Lard Friese as chief executive officer of Nationale-Nederlanden, as well as chairman of the Dutch Intermediary Division. Friese will succeed the incumbent, Ludo Wijngaarden, who leaves the post on 1 August. The appointment will be effective from 1 September of this year, subject to the approval of [...]
The 18th annual general meeting of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has been held at the Eko Hotel’s Expo Hall in Victoria Island Lagos. Shareholders continued to show their support for the bank and its future targets, most notably the aim of becoming Nigeria’s premier banking institution. At the gathering, the GTB’s board gave their [...]
The Global Environment Facility’s proposed US$15m grant to bolster energy efficiency in Argentina has been given the green light by the World Bank. The money will be utilised to lessen Argentina’s environmental impact by improving efficiency of energy supply, thereby lessening fuel consumption and the consequent effects upon the environment. The measures involved in the [...]
Morgan Stanley Private Equity has stated that it has completed its acquisition of a three-fifths share in Learning Care Group (a subsidiary of ABC Learning Centres Limited). The deal was announced on 22 April initially, and values the firm at $700m. The completion of the agreement marks the third investment foray Morgan Stanley Private Equity [...]
Dutch bank ING has announced the appointment of Karien van Gennip to the post of director of European and International Affairs. Van Gennip will assume her role on 8 September, succeeding Violeta Ciurel who vacates the position to become regional chief executive officer of the firm’s greenfield insurance operations within Central Europe. She will be [...]
HBOS’ £4 billion rights issue has secured the backing of the majority of its shareholders. The bank has been forced into its cash call by writedowns from the credit crisis. The fundraising has already encountered problems in the form of volatile share movements, which have been attributed to traders short-selling and resulted in an inconclusive [...]
APACS, the body that represents UK firms involved in payment services, has reported a disappointing take-up of contactless payment among consumers. This relatively new method of making purchases allows cardholders to pay for items of up to £10 by simply swiping their specially-enabled debit or credit cards against a retailer’s terminal. Cardholders do not need [...]
The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has indicated that he is reluctant to raise the base rate in an effort to maintain the Government’s inflation target of 2%. Addressing the House of Commons Treasury Committee, Mr King spoke about the balancing act of addressing inflationary pressures while remaining mindful of the dangers [...]
Martin Rauchenwald is to be appointed to the management board of UniCredit Bank, pending the green light from the necessary authorities. Rauchenwald, who is presently leader of marketing and investment banking for Russia, is to retain his role as acting chairman of UniCredit Aton’s supervisory board. For the last two years he has been acting [...]
Eduardo Vergara has been appointed by JPMorgan Treasury Services to the post of global commercial card executive. He joins the firm from American Express, where he was in charge of global product management and marketing for global commercial card. During his career he has also held a number of posts with Bank of America, and [...]
Crédit Agricole Asset Management has announced the appointment of Eric Tazé-Bernard to the post of head of investment of long-only multimanagement. Tazé-Bernard brings 25 years of industry experience to his role, having begun his career in 1983 with SEDES (CDC Group, France) as an economic consultant. He joins Crédit Agricole from Invesco, leaving behind his [...]
YouthNet, the charity that focuses on issues affecting young people, has completed a survey in which over two-thirds of respondents claimed they had been encouraged to take up debt they did not want or could not afford. Around 68% of the 16 to 24 year-olds questioned had been encouraged to take out credit, the majority [...]
Zurich has launched two new pension trusts: the Pensions Discretionary (2 years) Trust and the Pensions Discretionary (80 years) Trust. Both trusts aim to give customers flexibility in their estate planning. In the case of the Pensions Discretionary (2 years) Trust, benefits must be paid within two years of death, thus avoiding Inheritance Tax liability. [...]
Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company, has been investigating pension plan charges on policies that are “paid-up”. The research reveals that large numbers of people who have contributed to group personal pension schemes and opted not to transfer their funds to their new pension arrangements when they change jobs, are paying [...]
Morgan Stanley has announced the appointment of Yoshihiko Shigenari to the post of private equity leader in Japan. Shigenari, whose appointment comes into effect on 1 July, is also to be made representative director of Morgan Stanley Capital K. K. Shigenari has been with the firm for almost two decades, joining in 1989 and presently [...]
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. yesterday announced that it is to acquire Ureta y Bianchi Corredores de Bolsa S.A, a Chilean equity broker firm. The acquisition will be part of a wider move to establish a Chilean presence in the form of a Global Markets and Investment Banking (GMI) platform in the country. By taking [...]
