For the first time in three days the FTSE Asia Pacific index has fallen 0.4 percent, while the Nikkei stock average fell 0.57 percent or 57.60 to 9578.53. Renewed worry about high levels of radiation at Japan’s nuclear power plant in Fukushima has again put Asia Pacific shares under pressure with radiation levels said to […]

European private equity firm Cinven has kicked off a fundraising drive for its fifth buyout fund, aiming to gather up to 5bn euro ($7.1bn) for new deals, people familiar with the situation said. The buyout firm, whose investments include Pizza Express group Gondola Holdings and Dutch cable operator Ziggo, is hoping to buck tough fundraising […]

Britain has cut its economic growth forecast and said inflation would remain above target this year and next in a budget that stuck to ambitious deficit-busting goals. Seeking to support a faltering economy, finance minister George Osborne said corporation tax would be cut by two percentage points to 26 percent from April, rather than by […]

Global companies from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders faced disruptions to operations after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan destroyed vital infrastructure and knocked out factories supplying everything from high-tech components to steel. Thousands of people have been killed and millions have been left without water, electricity, homes or heat after the 8.9 magnitude quake triggered […]

Nationalised lender Irish Nationwide has had a near 100 percent take-up for its coercive buyback of £146.2m ($236m) of subordinated debt at an 80 percent discount. The lender, being wound down as part of an EU/IMF bailout, said investors holding £125.7m of bonds due 2016 and £20.5m of notes due 2018 had agreed to the […]

Auditing firms in the European Union face more competition and curbs on their activities to restore their “tarnished” image, the bloc’s financial services chief has announced. “One can no longer say ‘move on, there is nothing to see’ on audit issues,” EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier told a webstreamed hearing on auditing in Brussels. […]

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is to buy Canada’s TMX to claw back lost market share and create the world’s fourth-largest bourse trading $4.1trn of stock a year. Shares in the LSE, first established in 1698, jumped nine percent as markets welcomed the all-share deal, and indicating a per share valuation for TMX of C$46.7, […]

European countries must implement the structural reforms that Germany has already carried out over the last couple of decades to ramp up competitiveness, the European Union’s top economic official said recently. Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Germany’s economy entered the crisis on a stronger footing than others within the EU because it […]

Egypt has substantial reserves to avoid an external payments crisis but these could be seriously depleted within weeks if political protests continue, while its banks may struggle to cope with a rush of withdrawals. In the days after the protests erupted, Egyptians and foreign investors transferred hundreds of millions of dollars out of Egypt, currency […]

Dealmaking is back on the agenda as CEOs step up the hunt for ways to put a multitrillion-dollar cash pile to work, triggering the busiest January for M&A in 11 years. There is still plenty to worry about at this year’s meeting of the global elite in Davos, from fiscal deficits in the developed world […]

A record monthly jump in prices drove British inflation to an eight-month high in December, piling pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates and show it is not letting inflation get out of control. The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation rose to 3.7 percent from […]

Anglo-Australian funds house Henderson is buying troubled British rival Gartmore, to create one of Britain’s largest retail asset managers with £78bn ($122bn) under management. “By bringing across fund managers and integrating the (Gartmore) business onto our own platform we will be able to enhance margins significantly,” Henderson chief executive Andrew Formica said. “Its recent travails […]

From what France calls “economic warfare” as it probes a Chinese link to industrial espionage at Renault to currency confrontation and commodity rivalry, economic conflict is increasingly impacting businesses. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office has asked French intelligence to probe suspected industrial espionage at the car giant. Renault suspended three executives at the start of January […]

The eurozone’s dominant service sector expanded much slower than expected in December but its manufacturing sector, which led a large part of the economic recovery, grew faster than thought, surveys show. Worryingly for policymakers, a large part of the strength was on the back of a very positive performance in Germany and a supportive France, […]

Portugal is under pressure to seek a European bailout due to concerns Lisbon’s debt woes could drag down Spain and trigger an even greater crisis. The Financial Times Deutschland said some states wanted Portugal to seek aid in order to avoid Spain, the fifth largest EU economy, from having to follow suit. “If Portugal were […]