A round up of the top news and views on FT Alphaville and FT.com as at noon, London time.
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On FT Alphaville this morning,
- Kensington has recommended a takeover offer by Investec, ending speculation about the identity of its likely buyer that had focussed upon Morgan Stanley.
- HSBC’s various attempts to establish itself as a force in investment banking have met with, at best, limited success. Four years on from the high profile hiring of John Studzinski, and the push, with ensuing hiring spree, has failed to yield meaningful results. Now Daniel Palmer, another Morgan Stanley hire as global head of capital markets, is leaving after three years at the bank.
- Many regional and local exchanges are awash with liquidity while global exchanges continue to fight for new listings, says the FT’s report on Corporate Finance.
- “The M&A boom rolls on, slowly but surely changing the financial and corporate landscape,” writes Mohamed El-Erian, who manages Harvard University’s $30bn endowment, in Wednesday’s FT’s Insight column.
On FT.com this morning,
- British Energy on Wednesday said it would resume dividend payments as it turned in an improved financial performance after a year of output problems.
- China’s benchmark stock index plunged 6.5 per cent on Wednesday, after Beijing took its most decisive step yet in its efforts to deflate the soar-away mainland stock market by tripling the stamp duty tax on share transactions.
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