Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel to stand trial

Published: 11:17PM BST 31 Aug 2009

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel is to stand trial over accusations
that he cost the bank 4.9bn euro (£4.3bn) in trading losses as a result
of allegedly rogue, risky transactions.

The case of Mr Kerviel, who has claimed that superiors knew of his trades and
turned a blind eye while he was making profits for the bank, has been sent
to trial in Paris by investigating judges.

No specific date has been set, but the trial is not expected until early 2010.

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KeTech engineers working under a pension cloud

Published: 10:26PM BST 31 Aug 2009

Standing the middle of KeTech
Group’s factory floor in Bilborough, Nottingham, is an old blue
Peugeot 406. Hidden in its headlights, wing mirrors and interior panelling
are a dozen mini camera lens. It is a “trap car”.

Used by police forces in the Midlands, it records vandals attacking parked
cars in trouble spots. “Simple but effective,” observed Lord
Mandelson, the Business Secretary, as he toured the factory at the
beginning of August.

He was there to announce that the taxpayer had taken “a significant
minority stake” in the engineering and electronics group – the first
investment made by the Business Department’s new £75m Capital for Enterprise
fund.

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Commercial property recovery ‘will take more than five years’

By Graham Ruddick

Published: 10:25PM BST 31 Aug 2009

Offices, shops
and warehouses have suffered falls in value of around 45pc in just two years
and the new forecasts highlight that, while there will be a recovery, it
will be painstakingly slow and struggle to reach the over-inflated pricing
of 2007.

A number of high-profile investors have returned to the market in the last few
weeks to target distressed assets they believe are attractively priced.

However, the research from BNP Paribas Real Estate (BNPRE), previously
Atisreal, shows that the recovery in capital values will be hindered by weak
occupier demand.

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Governmentrescued KeTech in pension row

By Richard Tyler

Published: 10:25PM BST 31 Aug 2009

The revelation follows an investigation by The Daily Telegraph into the
financial affairs of Bedford-based KeTech
Group in the months leading up to its selection – ahead of hundreds
of other companies – as the first recipient of investment under Lord
Mandelson’s Capital
for Enterprise fund.

The Business Secretary visited
the engineering and electronics company’s Nottingham factory on the
day the £2m investment was unveiled in August. “You are not a
struggling company. You are a successful company,” he said. “You
need capital and that is the point [of this fund].”

However, it has emerged that KeTech owes a significant amount of tax and has a “backlog”
of creditors. It has also emerged that one of its subsidiaries, software
engineering company Key Radio Systems, based in Berkshire, failed to pass on
pension contributions taken from the salaries of its staff.

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Disney to buy comic book creator Marvel for 4bn

By James Quinn, US Business Editor

Published: 10:25PM BST 31 Aug 2009

Disney, the media giant behind Magic Kingdom and Finding Nemo, has
agreed to buy Marvel, the comic book creator of The Silver Surfer and
Captain America.

Disney
has agreed to pay $4bn (£2.45bn) in cash and shares for Marvel, valuing
the latter’s shares at $50 each, a 29pc premium to its Friday night closing
price of $38.65.

The surprise move could kick-start a fresh wave of consolidation among
entertainment companies. Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said the
acquisition will help unlock Marvel’s “treasure trove” of
characters, by turning them into Hollywood films, books, and through other
forms of character licensing.

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Insurer RSA’s rights issue may prompt deluge of cash calls

By Jospehine Moulds

Published: 10:34PM BST 30 Aug 2009

The £4.4bn company - previously known as Royal & Sun Alliance - could
be the first of many FTSE 100 stocks to raise money in the coming weeks
after the summer rally, which saw the index rise by almost 20pc.

JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch have been appointed to ready the rights issue,
which could be launched within the next fortnight. Bankers have been working
on the RSA deal for several weeks but a final decision on whether to go
ahead remains with the board, which has yet to consider all its options,
according to The Sunday Telegraph.

RSA
recently announced that it would pay down €500m (£440m) worth of debt
early, on October 15.

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Companies Act to be used to make banks disclose nonboard pay

By Damian Reece

Published: 10:34PM BST 30 Aug 2009

The use of the Companies Act 2006 also raises the possibility that all UK
companies could be forced to comply with the measure, regardless of the
industry they operate in. This would involve the country’s biggest
industrial names adopting a new level of disclosure on how much they pay
their top people outside the boardroom.

The Walker review of corporate governance in UK banks and other financial
companies is understood to favour forcing through the measure using the
Companies Act 2006 legislation because it would make the proposal
compulsory, removing the option of a company being able to choose whether to
comply or explain why it had chosen not to.

The review, led by Sir David Walker and published in July, recommended that
companies should disclose the number of “high-end” executives
whose total remuneration exceeds that of the median total pay on the
executive board. It anticipates a company publishing pay bands, indicating
numbers of executives in each band and, within each band, the main elements
of salary, bonus, long term award and pension contribution.

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HM Revenue & Customs welcomes richest people to High Net Worth Unit

By Damian Reece

Published: 10:33PM BST 30 Aug 2009

The letter sets out details of an “enhanced relationship” between
the Revenue and its “customers” by developing “trust and
understanding”. However, one leading tax expert said the new regime
would have a “sting in the tail”.

Sue Holmes, head of tax investigations at Smith & Williamson, said: “Yield
is the name of the game.”

Based on the Australian model for taxing the richest people, which is
understood to have raised about £1.5bn in additional tax for the Australian
government, the unit has appointed a Customer Relationship Manager
for each taxpayer.

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Lloyds mulls closure of 300 Halifax counters

By Graham Ruddick

Published: 10:33PM BST 30 Aug 2009

Lloyds yesterday confirmed that it was conducting a review of the counters
after a whistleblower revealed plans, named Project Tulip, for widespread
closures of counters and small branches. The bank denied it is considering
branch closures.

The Halifax counters are not directly run by the business, but are licensed
out to estate agents, solicitors and financial advisers. They offer only
basic services such as paying-in and withdrawing cash. On average, they
employ one person, but this member of staff is likely to have other
responsibilities linked to the business where the counter is based.

Lloyds
has already confirmed that 26 counters will close in September and October.

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MG Rover’s £22m dowry ’should be given to former car workers’

By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor

Published: 10:33PM BST 30 Aug 2009

The cash has come from a car-leasing business linked to the collapsed company
called MGR Capital, which was co-owned by state-controlled bank HBOS and
some of the original MG Rover directors.

MGR Capital was wound up last August, with £22m in cash remaining on its
books, swelled in part by a clawback of £16m-worth of VAT from the taxman in
2005. It had been expected that this money was going to be divided between
its shareholders, HBOS and two former MG
Rover directors, Peter Beale and John Edwards. Both groups owned
50pc of the business.

However all of the cash has in fact been handed to HBOS, which is now run by
state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group.

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