Germany will block any new aid to ailing Greece if Athens does not fully comply with the terms of previous rescue packages, even if other countries support unlocking funds, a senior lawmaker said Sunday. The deputy head of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative parliamentary bloc, Michael Fuchs, told business daily Handelsblatt that Berlin was ready to use its veto if it is unhappy with findings from the Greece creditors “troika”. Says The Telegraph
Barclays has issued a strong defence of its sale of financial products based on the Libor interest rate index it has admitted trying to fix,The Times has learnt. In a test case, the bank is being sued by a care homes business that claims it lost millions buying swaps pegged to rates that were being manipulated in the bank’s favour. Barclays is arguing that it cannot be held responsible as a large corporate entity for matters that its local staff were unaware of when they arranged the financial deals. Writes The Times
Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American, is under attack from shareholders who have demanded an immediate change of management because they have lost confidence in her strategy and leadership. Several of the miner’s biggest institutional investors have contacted Sir John Parker, the chairman of Anglo American, to ask him to start the search for a new chief executive. The Telegraph
Manchester United’s first day on the New York Stock Exchange got off to a flat start as shares eked out a tiny gain in early trading before falling back to the slashed launch price. United’s bankers had been looking to sell shares for between $16 and $20, but cut the launch price late on Thursday to $14 – shaving as much as $100m off the windfall expected for the team and its owners, the Glazer family. Shares crept up by 5¢ in early trading. But even this modest gain was wiped out by close, ending back at $14. Opines The Guardian
Japan’s economy grew by just 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, lower than expected, as weak exports and softer consumer spending offset continuing strong public investment in the disaster-stricken Tohoku region. Preliminary data from the Cabinet Office on Monday indicated annualised growth of 1.4 per cent between April and June, a significant fall from the revised 5.5 per cent expansion between January and March, and well short of the 2.3 per cent growth rate anticipated by economists. Financial Times
The Financial Services Authority’s new chief policewoman has warned the City that there will be no let-up in the tough line taken in response to a string of scandals. The regulator has already smashed its 2010 record of £89.1m in fines, with the running total standing at £94.2m for the first seven months of this year. Speaking following her promotion from acting to permanent head of enforcement, Tracey McDermott said: “Effective enforcement has, and will continue to be, a key part of FSA’s strategy, to improve behaviour in our markets. We will continue to take tough, targeted action against those who don’t play by the rules.” So says the Independent
Top accountants have hit back at plans by auditing regulators to drastically increase the fines they will face for misconduct, describing the proposals as “irrational” and “fundamentally misconceived”. The Financial Reporting Council, which investigates significant audit failures, believes that the big firms have not been punished adequately for their mistakes and wants to introduce stiffer penalties based on the size of their turnover. This could result in the largest accountants — the so-called Big Four of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC — paying tens of millions of pounds in fines if they are found to have made a mistake in their oversight of a company’s accounts or, in the worst cases, helped to cover up fraud. The Times
