Financial Times Summary

Mon 27 Oct 2008

Goldman Sachs
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs' chief executive, called Vikram Pandit, his Citigroup counterpart, last month to discuss a merger, in a dramatic example of the secret manoeuvring that preceded the government bail-out of the financial sector. The call, which was made shortly after Goldman had won surprise approval to convert itself from a securities firm into a commercial bank on September 21st , according to several people familiar with events.
PwC
The unwinding of Lehman Brothers' European operations has not gone as fast as its administrators has hoped because of slow co-operation from other banks, the man in charge of the process has admitted. Tony Lomas, lead administrator for the collapsed bank's sprawling London-based operations, is facing pressure from hedge funds and other creditors to return client assets, but told the Financial Times the administrators were still waiting for confirmations of many Lehmans counterparts.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange has hired a City headhunter to find a replacement for Clara Furse, its chief executive, signalling the beginning of the end of her long tenure at the exchange. The LSE said yesterday: "Clara has been with the exchange for 8 years and it's natural that the board is thinking about succession planning."
Deloitte
Woolworths' lenders have appointed Deloitte, the corporate restructuring group, as advisers amid amounting concerns about the retailer's future. GMAC Commercial Finance and Burdale Financial, a division of Bank of Ireland, appointed Deloitte last week to represent them in negotiations with the retailer.
JP Morgan
Moves by US and European governments to guarantee the debt of banks and other financial institutions have made private fundraising in vital parts of the capital markets extremely unattractive. "There is now a relative advantage to raising funds through guaranteed bank paper versus the asset-backed markets," said Christopher Flanagan, managing director at JP Morgan. "It is very tough to say how long this will remain the case for, as much of it depends on what further action governments take. It could be months or even years."
Lloyds TSB
Gordon Brown yesterday insisted that the proposed merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS was the right step to "save the banks" since no other bidders had come forward with better offers. The prime minister's renewed approval for the tie-up-arranged before both banks agreed to a government capital injection-comes in spite of increasing pressure, particularly in Scotland, to let HBOS keep its independence.

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