Economy
Lloyds Banking Group shares in sharp pullback |
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| Economy | |
| Written by Gary Howes | |
| Thursday, 26 November 2009 | |
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Morning Business News, 26th November 2009: Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Vodafone, Dubai and the Bundesbank.
Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) shares are sharply lower on the FTSE 100 this morning. However, a fresh dispute erupted yesterday over the secret £62bn loans to RBS (LON:RBS) and HBOS as MPs across the House condemned regulators for failing investors. Lloyds Banking Group shareholders said that the revelations strengthened their actions against directors of the bank. MPs expressed anger that Lloyds Banking Group’s investors had been asked to vote in favour of buying HBOS on November 19 last year while being denied information about the additional bailout money, the Times reports. VodafoneVodafone (LON:VOD) is planning to close its £755m final salary pension scheme to roughly 4,000 of its employees, becoming one of the largest employers to propose such a move in an attempt to control the costs and risks of retirement benefits. Vodafone sent a letter to staff this week informing them of a consultation exercise, as required by law, ahead of a planned closure of the defined benefit scheme in April, the FT reports. DubaiDubai, the credit-crunched Gulf playground, has shattered hopes of imminent financial recovery by asking for a six-month "standstill" on major parts of its debt. Dubai World, one of the emirate's main state holding companies, said it was asking for a delay on maturities until at least May 30. It has $60bn (£35.9bn) in declared liabilities and one of its subsidiaries, the "palm island" developer Nakheel, is due a $3.52bn Islamic bond repayment, plus charges, on December 14, the Telegraph reports. The BundesbankThe Bundesbank has told German banks to take advantage of renewed confidence while they can to prepare for likely losses of €90bn (£81bn) over the next year, warning that the delayed shock waves of the economic crisis still pose a major threat to global recovery and bank finance. While the credit system has partly stabilised, the underlying problems "are still far from being overcome" and money markets are not yet functioning properly, the bank added, reports the Telegraph.
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