Word: banking
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...maverick of the business world. And, on Monday, he made a typically bold gesture, announcing that he would lead an investment consortium to rescue the ailing U.K. mortgage lender Northern Rock. In an open letter to Northern Rock customers entitled "A Fresh Start," he pledged to save the bank and declared that the company would soon be known as Virgin Money...
...Rock Small Shareholders Group, an "overwhelming majority" of shareholders at a meeting on Monday in the northern English city of Newcastle where the lender is based, agreed in an informal vote that Branson?s offer undervalued the company. Shareholders still have the power to block a sale because the bank has not officially been declared insolvent, despite its reliance on an approximate $47 billion bail out made by the Bank of England in September, when Northern Rock revealed its financial difficulties. "The directors need to be aware that they are not going to get the votes unless they are going...
...bigger worry for Branson is that some larger shareholders are coming out against the deal. Philip Richards, CEO of the hedge-fund RAB Capital, which owns 6.5 % of the bank, released a statement saying, "We do not believe that this proposal reflects the true value of Northern Rock and we would expect either that this proposal be improved or that alternative proposals be brought forward...
...Shareholder dissatisfaction now sets up a showdown with Britain's Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Financial Services Authority (which support the deal in large part because it promises an immediate repayment of $22.7 billion of the $47 billion bail-out). Should shareholders block the takeover, and no other suitable bidders are found, the British government could decide to nationalize the bank or force it into bankruptcy, stripping shareholders of their investment. Either resolution would further embarrass a government still reeling from criticism of its handling of the early stages of the crisis. In September, nervous pensioners withdrew...
...another signaled their willingness to accept Jerusalem as two capitals for two states. There is an increasing consensus about Israel's need to withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, albeit with land swaps that accommodate the reality of large Jewish population centers in the West Bank planted during decades of settlement projects...