Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic tumbled on Thursday as a bigger-than-expected fall in US jobs last month dashed hopes that the US was moving out of recession. The data showed that the number of people in employment fell 467,000 in June and the unemployment rate rose from 9.4% to 9.5%,
US state regulators on Thursday closed six banks in Illinois and one in Texas, raising the number of US bank failures to 52 this year, reports the WSJ. The seizures were the most in a single day during the financial crisis.
A startling spike in oil prices on Tuesday to their highest this year was caused by a rogue broker who placed a massive bet in the Brent oil market, triggering almost $10m (€7m) of losses for his company.
Private equity that want to buy troubled banks would have to maintain significant capital levels and promise not to “flip’’ investments for at least three years, under proposals by US regulators.
Two of China’s biggest oil groups have approached Repsol YPF, the Spanish oil company, over possible asset purchases and joint ventures worth billions of dollars. Repsol is discussing a possible sale of its 75% stake in YPF,
Johnson & Johnson on Thursday said it will buy an 18.4% stake in Irish biotech company Elan, in a $1.5bn bid to crack the elusive but potentially lucrative market for Alzheimer’s disease treatments, reports the WSJ.
The Chinese government has hired two foreign banks to restructure some of the country’s best railway assets with a view to listing the holding company in an initial public offering that could be worth as much as $5bn.
The International Petroleum Investment Company, which is wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government, on Thursday said it had raised $5bn in syndicated loan facilities to help finance a recent multibillion dollar spending spree.
Intermediate Capital Group, the mezzanine debt provider, is to raise £351m in a fully underwritten rights issue to boost its “firepower” for buying debt in private equity-owned companies at big discounts.
The Children’s Investment Fund Management, the UK hedge fund manager run by Christopher Hohn, posted its fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth in 2007. Revenue rose more than 70% from £333m to £574m,
US marshals on Thursday seized the luxury $7m New York City penthouse apartment of imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, reports Reuters. Mrs Madoff was present when agents took possession of the four-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s East Side under court orders.
Germany could soon see its first trial related to the financial crisis, after prosecutors charged Stefan Ortseifen, the former chief executive of stricken lender IKB. Prosecutors in Düsseldorf said they had charged Ortseifen – who led the mid-sized corporate lender until its near-collapse in the summer of 2007 – with manipulating the share price and breach of trust.
John Peace, who has been appointed chairman at Standard Chartered, the emerging markets bank, is to receive £650,000 a year plus a further £500,000 in shares that will vest over the next three years.
Asian stocks fell for a third day as figures showing worsening job markets in the US and Europe fanned doubts about global economic recovery. In New York, futures on the S&P500 lost 0.1% after the gauge slid 2.9 percent on news that the US lost 467,000 jobs in June,
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