It seems that British insurers RSA and Aviva could yet end up around the negotiating table with the announcement that RSA is still open to talks regarding a potential acquisition of the company's general insurance operations. This comes after a weekend of press comment with Aviva management forced to go on the front foot and defend the decision not to make the approach by RSA public.
The UK government is set to suffer a significant fall in tax income related to share trades as activity on the UK stock market has now fallen back to 2002 levels. The government banked a record £4.2 billion in the 2007/8 tax year due to the 0.5% stamp duty charged on each and every share transaction. However, the figure for this year will be nearer £3 billion and many experts believe it is unlikely to hit the record £4.2 billion in the foreseeable future.
UK insurance giant Aviva has today begun to fight back in a war of words with shareholders over the £5 billion offer from RSA to acquire the company's UK, Irish and Canadian general insurance businesses. The Aviva management believes that the £5 billion offer was "not in the best interests of shareholders" and as such the offer was rejected and not even made public.
Over the last couple weeks, despite the many positive headlines, it is becoming more and more apparent that the banking arena, both high street banking and investment banking, in the UK is coming under pressure. Unofficially many believe that Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland (to name but a few) have put in place an unofficial freeze on recruitment. So why is the banking sector only being affected now?
Financial giant Credit Suisse has announced 75 job losses centred upon the company's London operations as the economic downturn in the UK begins to impact upon the investment banking market. This comes only hours after Barclays Capital announced significant job cuts across the board in a move which many believe is the sector adjusting for what could be a turbulent next few years.
Barclays Capital, the investment arm of Barclays Bank, has today announced 400 worldwide redundancies despite the fact that the company recently announced significant profits and an increase in funding put aside for bonuses and remuneration packages. It seems that the worldwide economic slowdown is finally beginning to hit the investment banking arena which many people began to think was "bombproof".
The UK stock market fell today as the Bank of England issued a cautious note on the UK economy and investors took fright. The FTSE 100 index was down 2.5% at the close amid concerns that the UK economy could tip into a recession towards the end of 2010. The situation was made worse when the Federal Reserve in America also issued a cautious statement on the US economy and confirmed it was looking to acquire U.S. Treasury bonds to pump liquidity back into the US economy.
Nighthawk Energy, an AIM listed company, has today revealed a successful court battle against chatroom companies ADVFN and iii to force the companies to divulge the identity of certain individuals posting alleged "damaging information" online. The company believes it has been the victim of unscrupulous rumours which may or may not have damaged the reputation of Nighthawk Energy. So what does the court ruling actually mean?
Lehman Brothers, the massive financial conglomerate which collapsed as a result of the credit crunch, is again in the headlines with news that the company's art collection will go under the hammer very soon. It is believed that original signs from the company's various head offices will also be sold off with the famous Lehman Brothers office sign in London expected to raise around £3000.
The UK government is today under pressure to begin disposing of taxpayer share stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds bank after this week's results season began. The stakes are now in profit to the tune of around £5 billion although there is a growing consensus that now may well be the time to begin reducing UK taxpayer exposure. So is now the right time to sell?
