FT Update

Wed 4 Nov 2009

Diamond handed bigger role at Barclays
Barclays handed more power to Bob Diamond, head of its investment banking arm, in a surprise shake-up yesterday that will see Frits Seegers ousted after three years running the global retail and commercial banking business.
Mr Seegers, hired from Citigroup on a £12m package, will leave as part of the reorganisation, which is aimed at capitalising on resurgent markets.

UBS shares slump
Shares in UBS fell yesterday after the Swiss bank revealed a bigger loss than expected in the third quarter as its private banking operations continued to haemorrhage funds.

Oracle faces Brussels
Oracle is braced for a formal objection from Brussels to its planned $7.4bn ($4.5bn) acquisition of fellow US technology company Sun Microsystems, escalating the company’s legal wrangle with Europe’s competition authorities.
The US software company has refused to offer any concessions to European regulators to meet their concerns about the deal, according to one person close to the process. That has left Brussels close to issuing an official statement of objections, the first step on the path to blocking it, this person added.

TfL seeks PPF review
Transport for London, operator of the city’s mass transit system, will seek the first judicial review of a premium levied by the Pension Protection Fund, with the outcome set to be watched by other employers.
TfL says that the levy imposed is many times greater than is justified by the risk it presents to the nation’s pension insurance scheme. The levies paid into PPF by employers reflect, in part, the likelihood the sponsor of a pension plan is likely to become insolvent in a year.

Stagecoach sees light
Stagecoach, the bus and train company talking rival National Express, has confirmed early signs that the recession-hit industry is stabilising, as the decline in passenger numbers slows.

HSBC to cut more jobs
HSBC is to shed another 4 per cent of its UK workforce as pressure mounts across the banking industry to cut costs.

L&G fights break-up suggestion
Legal & General sought to defend itself against the idea of break-up o fits businesses as it reported it lowest level of quarterly figures for at least seven quarters yesterday

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