WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
BUY-OUT GROUPS FACE OPPOSITION TO ANNEX FUNDS
Private equity groups are facing mounting opposition from investors over their attempts to raise annex funds, which buy-out firms hope will provide fresh cash to bail out many of the companies they bought during the debt bubble. Apollo Management had been forced to drop plans to raise an annex fund, after opposition from some of the US private equity group’s biggest backers, according to people familiar with the situation. Apollo declined to comment.
MCINERNEY TAKES €156M LAND BANK IMPAIRMENT
Housebuilder McInerney Holdings painted a bleak picture of the state of demand in the UK and Ireland as it took a €156m (£137m) impairment charge on its land bank yesterday. The move has tipped the Dublin-listed company into negative equity and placed it beyond previously agreed banking covenant
ARROWPOINT SET TO LIST ON PLUS MARKETS
An Indian software company is planning this month to list on Plus Markets as a prelude to a move to the main market, in a further indication of the appeal of London’s newest stock exchange to overseas companies. Arrowpoint Technologies, which provides software for pensions and retirement benefits adminstration has filed for an application to list on Plus this month.
INSURERS INVESTIGATE SPIKE IN FIRE CLAIMS
The insurance industry is investigating a spike of more than a fifth in property fire damage claims, amid fears that struggling businesses and homeowners are turning to arson to solve problems brought on by the financial crisis.
THE TIMES
CITY BRACES FOR TORIES’ NEW FINANCIAL CRIME FORCE
A new agency with beefed-up powers to tackle fraud and other financial crime could be created within the first year of a Conservative government, City lawyers believe. The move would lead to the closure of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the scrapping of the existing patchwork system of bodies pursuing white-collar crime, to be replaced with a new body, possibly called the Financial Crime Agency.
APPLICANTS PULL OUT AS FSA GETS TOUGH ON TOP BANK JOBS
Almost one in ten candidates for senior jobs at banks and other financial services businesses have withdrawn their applications since the Financial Services Authority (FSA) began aggressively vetting senior staff, with 15 candidates pulling out.
The Daily Telegraph
GOVERNMENT-RESCUED KETECH IN PENSION ROW
Staff at a company whose parent group was rescued by Lord Mandelson’s taxpayer-funded venture fund have discovered that their pension payments have gone missing.
The revelation follows an investigation into the financial affairs of Bedford-based KeTech Group in the months leading up to its selection – ahead of hundreds of other firms.
FORMER SOCIETE GENERALE TRADER JEROME KERVIEL TO STAND TRIAL
Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel is to stand trial over accusations that he cost the bank €4.9bn (£4.3bn) in trading losses as a result of allegedly rogue, risky transactions. Kerviel claims his superiors turned a blind eye to his actions. No specific date has been set, but the trial is not expected until early 2010.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
WTO ALLOWS BRAZIL TO FINE US
American goods will face around $295m in annual sanctions as a result of the United States’ failure to eliminate illegal subsidies to US cotton growers, the World Trade Organization ruled yesterday. The result was disappointing for Brazil, which has won a series of rulings against the US over the last seven years.
BOEING NAMES NEW HEAD OF PASSENGER-JET UNIT
Boeing said yesterday that Scott Carson would retire as head of its commercial aircraft business following a three-year tenure tainted by the persistent delays of its new 787. The aircraft business will be run from today by Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing’s defence unit, who will have just four months to rescue the company’s credibility before year-end.