Saturday, March 31, 2007
Speech By HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli On "The Hong Kong Exchange: The World At China's Door" At 2007 Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference
Friday, March 30, 2007
AIM market sees lowest quarter for IPOs in 3 years
DCC Presented Its Services to Foreign Investors
Challenge of luring Asia's corporates to Britain |
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Reliance Communications plans to list FLAG on the London Stock Exchange
Shanghai stock exchange chief sees improving corporate governance
OMX Enters Partnership with St Petersburg Exchange and RX
London Stock Exchange Increases Global Connectivity and Access to Market Data
NYSE And Euronext Create First Trans-Atlantic, Biggest Stock Market - NYSE Euronext
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
ABN Amro and Barclays narrow range for price agreement; deal seen in 2-3 weeks
ABN Amro, the listed Dutch bank, and Barclays, the UK bank, have closed in on a narrow range for the pricing of their potential merger, it is understood. The two are said to have pretty much agreed on the price within a narrow range. The price is understood to include a cash component and a premium. Meanwhile, it is understood that it may take another two to three weeks before the necessary clearances are obtained to announce the deal. A number of technicalities surrounding tax and regulatory issues need to be resolved before the deal can be finalised, it is understood, while Barclays is still focussed on working out the cost savings it expects to gain from the deal. It was pointed out, however, that it was possible that during its synergy exercise, Barclays could decide a deal was not viable. Meanwhile, sources have indicated that the cash component of the deal will be aimed at making the deal more palatable and to lessen dilution to both sets of shareholders. A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment. Spokespeople for ABN Amro were unavailable to comment.
Sberbank Declares Results of Offering
Speech By SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins: Remarks At Finance Dublin
NYSE Euronext Offer For Euronext Shares Is Successful - Euronext Shareholders Tender 91.4% Of Their Shares In The Friendly Offer Initiated By NYSE Euronext
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Norilsk Says It Will Spin Off Power Firm
Friday, March 23, 2007
UK Pension Fund voting - extract from Ed Balls (UK Treasury Minister) speech to NAPF
71. The exercise of voting rights attached to shares is a crucial element of an effective engagement strategy. It is clear to me that savers, as ultimate owners, have a right to know how their agents are managing their investment. This knowledge will help to improve the accountability of institutional investors to their clients, and it will also reduce the potential for conflicts of interest that arise when institutional investors vote on resolutions by companies with which they have, or indeed might have, a relationship.
72. I applaud the progress made by institutional investors in voluntary disclosure of voting. In 2003 only 2 institutions disclosed how they voted their shares. In a group of the largest firms, that figure is now 16 out of a possible 33, and represents 42% of managed UK equities. But there is clearly a long way to go before all savers can know how the ownership rights of shares - bought with their money - are exercised.
73. The Government's objective is to achieve a practical and workable regime that provides reasonable levels of disclosure at a proportionate cost. Our clear - and stated - preference is for industry to work to a voluntary approach. Regulation is neither the Government's or industry's first best choice. But, any voluntary approach needs to be effective. An effective voluntary 'comply or explain' code would result in industry:
acknowledging the desirability of disclosure of voting disclosure
having a disclosure policy in place;
considering the basis for disclosure against that policy and making disclosures where appropriate; and
where voting is not disclosed, providing principled reasons where voting is not disclosed, either in general or in specific cases.
74. I met the Institutional Shareholders Committee last week to discuss progress with a voluntary approach and I am encouraged that the ISC have said they will have an industry comply or explain code up and running by the Summer, following a period of consultation. The Treasury will cooperate fully with the ISC in this and we will encourage them to involve a wide range of interested parties in the development of this code.
72. I applaud the progress made by institutional investors in voluntary disclosure of voting. In 2003 only 2 institutions disclosed how they voted their shares. In a group of the largest firms, that figure is now 16 out of a possible 33, and represents 42% of managed UK equities. But there is clearly a long way to go before all savers can know how the ownership rights of shares - bought with their money - are exercised.
73. The Government's objective is to achieve a practical and workable regime that provides reasonable levels of disclosure at a proportionate cost. Our clear - and stated - preference is for industry to work to a voluntary approach. Regulation is neither the Government's or industry's first best choice. But, any voluntary approach needs to be effective. An effective voluntary 'comply or explain' code would result in industry:
acknowledging the desirability of disclosure of voting disclosure
having a disclosure policy in place;
considering the basis for disclosure against that policy and making disclosures where appropriate; and
where voting is not disclosed, providing principled reasons where voting is not disclosed, either in general or in specific cases.
74. I met the Institutional Shareholders Committee last week to discuss progress with a voluntary approach and I am encouraged that the ISC have said they will have an industry comply or explain code up and running by the Summer, following a period of consultation. The Treasury will cooperate fully with the ISC in this and we will encourage them to involve a wide range of interested parties in the development of this code.
Citigroup looking into a bid for ABN AMRO
London thrashes New York in battle for big-money flotations | Business | Money | Telegraph
Thursday, March 22, 2007
SEC eases foreign groups' exit from Sarbox constraints
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Barclays Dutch bid may flush out rivals | Business | Money | Telegraph
Quit ‘navel-gazing’, LSE chief tells US
Euronext, NYSE await birth of trans-Atlantic stock leviathan - Yahoo! News
Monday, March 19, 2007
Barclays in exclusive talks with ABN Amro
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Barclays 'eyeing tie-up with ABN'
Friday, March 16, 2007
GV Gold Plans to List Shares in July
Prokhorov Quits as Norilsk Nickel CEO
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Energy Utilities Mining - ENRC prepares for London listing
Cadbury plans to split business
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Aim market: Offshore attractions for the 'sophisticated' investor
Speech By SEC Commissioner Roel C. Campos: SEC Regulation Outside The United States
Monday, March 12, 2007
Dutch company wants greater transparency
Loyalty has its rewards—or might, if DSM has its way. On March 28 the Dutch nutrition-to-chemicals firm wants shareowners to green light an innovative bonus dividend to any investors who switch their anonymous bearer shares into registered shares, complete with name and address, and then hold the stock for at least three years. The bonus isn’t trivial, either: 30% of the average dividend in the first payoff, and 10% each subsequent year. DSM says the plan won’t add a class of shares, change any voting rights or reduce dividends for ordinary investors. But Chairman Peter Elverding says it would allow the company to identify and communicate directly with its owners—a complex and costly task when bearer shares are involved. DSM is the first company with the grit to road-test the loyalty dividend, an idea first proposed one year ago (GPW X-09). Top ABP executives had said the €200 billion fund would agree to lock up its shares in a company for an extended period—thereby assuming more risk—in exchange for an extra dividend. A loyalty dividend, ABP said, would give shareowners "financial incentive to intensify ties with the company and to exercise voting rights" while giving the firm "a stable shareholder base" focused on long-term value. Proponents call the premium a weapon against short-termism. Critics warn it would create unequal classes of owners and penalize investors wishing to remain confidential. Proxy services such as Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis and Manifest have yet to issue their analyses. Eumedion, the Dutch shareowner coalition, is to meet Tuesday to craft a common policy.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Lehman joins bank bonanza in Russia
SEC official sparks row over Aim ‘casino’
Thursday, March 08, 2007
SEC's Campos Warns of "Casino" in London
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
SEC could widen access to US investors
Sunday, March 04, 2007
SSE considers IPO in Shanghai
UK plugs into the Indian growth tune
Bowled over
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Zambezi Resources plans Australian IPO, dual listing
Friday, March 02, 2007
Wall Street's competitiveness
Hong Kong bourse woos Asian companies for IPOs
Russian IPO in 2007: decline or new breakthrough?
Why Aim is lucky to attract Chinese companies
Watchdog to probe ECB's plan for pan-European settlement system
ABN Amro coud see bid from RBS - market report; UPDATE: Morgan Stanley joins advisers - report
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the UK-listed financial services group, was tipped as a possible bidder for ABN Amro, a Daily Mail market report said. The report did not cite sources for the speculation. ABN Amro, the Netherlands-listed financial services company, has a market capitalisation of EUR 50.30bn. Separately, a report in the Financial Times quoted RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin as saying that the bank might consider acquiring small US-based retail banks. The quote appeared in a longer article about RBS' plans for expansion in the US. A separate article in the Financial Times said that ABN Amro has enlisted the services of investment banks including Morgan Stanley to advise on a defence against calls for a break-up of the group by the Children's Investment Fund (TCI). The report quoted people familiar with the matter, who said ABN Amro has hired Morgan Stanley, Rothschild, Lehman Brothers and UBS as advisers. ABN and the four investment banks refused to comment, the report said. TCI, the hedge fund, last week contacted ABN with a written demand for five resolutions to be presented to ABN Amro shareholders at a meeting scheduled for the end of April, the report noted. TCI holds a 1% stake in ABN Amro.
Source
Daily Mail, Financial Times
Source
Daily Mail, Financial Times
Thursday, March 01, 2007
GL TRADE, The London Stock Exchange And EDX London Hold Their First Trading Forum In Moscow, March 29, 2007 - Marriott Grand Hotel Moscow
Margaret Hodge announces Companies Act Implementation timetable
Westfield's Steven Lowy Says Buyout Offers Good for Retailers
