Think of the fortune they must have spent on risk control at News International down the years and look at the mess the company is in now. It is hard to believe they got value for money... more
Fathom Consulting presented its usual gloomy line on the British economy yesterday at the Cass Business School, and then at the end of the seminar the audience was asked whether in the light of these predictions, the Government should persist with its planned austerity package. The audience voted 89% for and 11% against... more
Football finance: Many fans would dearly like to see the back of their club's owners, but the English game brings in vast investment from abroad... more
Leading law firms are rejecting well-qualified applicants from humble backgrounds because they do not look or sound smart enough, according to a study... more
Football finance: Rampant commercialism in English football has spawned a huge upsurge of interest in community football, and there is no better example of this than AFC Wimbledon... more
Football finance: Can John W Henry repeat his success with the Boston Red Sox at Liverpool? Sceptics are already arguing that the financial commitment required is too great... more
Football finance: Three divisions down from Chelsea and Arsenal life feels very different for the average fan, but the economic problems are still remarkably similar... more
Football finance: The double winners' current squad has at least one more season in it, but the long-term issue is the willingness of Roman Abramovich to go on playing the sugar daddy... more
Football finance: It's a free market - anyone who thinks our football players should be performing better because they are paid a lot of money clearly hasn’t thought very carefully... more
World Cup analysis: With the tournament about to kick off, a football finance expert explains how London clubs are trying to balance their books... more
Leaders of the G20 group of developed nations were today putting the final touches on proposals to bring in strict new regulations for the world’s banking industry to be thrashed out at this week’s political summit in Pittsburgh ... more
The City today gave a mixed reaction to Tory proposals to give the Bank of England greater regulatory powers to try to prevent future financial crises ... more
This piece was going to dissect the record of one of London's top investment bankers, someone who profited mightily from the boom times and hasn't suffered a jot from the bust... more
Markets have breathed a huge sigh of relief since the announcement by European governments of concerted action to provide extra capital to banks. But though the relief is welcome, there is also an understanding that we are not out of the woods yet.... more
People who have forgotten how to cope with recessions and have similarly forgotten, or never knew, how to handle negative equity in housing will soon have to come to terms with a new challenge — living with a massive deterioration in Government finances... more
London-based hedge fund manager GLG is to bolster its team with two more bid appointments ahead of the departure of its star fund manager, Greg Coffey... more
The private-equity purchase of sandwich shops chain Pret a Manger at the end of last week has told us two things about the current state of the markets. First, it is still possible to get private-equity transactions done. Second, the imminent changes in capital gains tax are concentrating the minds of those seeking to sell their businesses and giving them a serious incentive to get deals completed within this tax year. The implications of this are examined in the second note in this column... more
In any market meltdown, a huge amount of otherwise idle time and energy is spent trying to find the stuffee - market code for the poor mutt who has been stuffed with paper and left holding it when the music stopped... more
Afternoon:
8°c
