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Nortel hacking went on for years
Chinese hackers had undetected access to sensitive Nortel data for almost a decade from 2000, the WSJ reports. The extent to which Nortel, the once-mighty telecoms giant, was compromised shows the lack of corporate defences against hacking.
Low gas prices lead Chesapeake into $12bn asset sale
Chesapeake Energy plans to raise $12bn from asset sales in 2012, its latest effort to reduce debt amid the current slough in natural gas prices, the FT says. A deal to sell future output from the Granite Wash fields in Texas,
iPad 3 in March, and smaller tablet also in pipeline
Verizon and AT&T will sell Apple’s latest tablet on their next-generation 4G wireless networks, after Apple unveils the third version of its iPad tablet in the first week of March, reports the WSJ.
Google-Motorola Mobility clears antitrust
Regulators in the US and EU have given grudging approval to Google’s $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the company’s biggest gambit in the smartphone patent wars, the FT reports. The US Department of Justice said it had “significant concerns”
Bank of Japan expands policy easing
Japan’s central bank has surprised markets by adding another $128bn to its asset purchases and adopting a one per cent inflation target “for the time being”, says Bloomberg. Politicians had urged the Bank of Japan to communicate its measures against deflation more effectively,
UK car trade deficit at 36-year low
Britain’s trade deficit in cars is at its smallest since 1976 as the country’s automakers profit from buoyant overseas demand for their vehicles, reports the FT, citing unpublished official statistics. Car exports are surging and Britain’s niche premium producers,
Rangers lodges papers for administration
Rangers, the 140-year-old Scottish football club, has lodged legal papers signalling it intends to enter administration, reports the FT. The move came as the defending Scottish champion – which with Glasgow Celtic forms the “Old Firm”,
BoJ introduces more easing
The Bank of Japan surprised markets Tuesday by implementing new easing policies and moving closer to an explicit price target, the latest sign of growing worries around the world about the ripple effects of the European debt crisis on the global economy,
Overnight markets: Mixed
Asian shares drifted lower on renewed concerns about the fallout of the eurozone debt crisis after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded six European countries including Italy and cut its outlook on the UK,
ISS looking into employee kickback claims
Institutional Shareholder Services, a provider of proxy voting services for corporations, is investigating whether an employee was selling, for cash and other gifts, non-public shareholder voting data,
Further MF Global funds returned in UK
Liquidators of failed brokerage MF Global will start returning funds to a further 1,300 UK clients next week, the FT says, after returning a total of $3m to 600 others in a first wave of repayments last Friday. KPMG,
Chesapeake plans $12bn in asset sales
Chesapeake Energy is seeking to raise up to $12bn through asset sales this year, as the company seeks to plug a funding gap that has been exacerbated by low natural gas prices, reports the FT. The second-largest US gas producer had already responded to decade-low prices by idling rigs and seeking to raise production of oil and liquid natural gas,
Google wins Motorola Mobility deal approval
Google has won approval from Brussels for the $12.5bn purchase of Motorola Mobility, the FT reports. However, the European Commission warned the search group and its technology rivals on Monday about their use of patent arsenals to stymie competition. The takeover of the US smartphone maker,
France to push on with trading tax
France is determined to press ahead with a financial transaction tax inspired by the UK’s stamp duty and supported by at least eight other eurozone countries, the country’s finance minister has said.
Chinese defence budget set to double by 2015
China’s defence budget is expected to almost double by 2015 as Beijing accelerates its spending on fighter jets and other military equipment, according to defence forecasts, the FT reports. The country’s official military spending has increased at a double-digit rate for all but one of the past 23 years.
Apple shares reach $500 milestone
Apple shares hit $500 for the first time in early morning trading on Monday, taking the market capitalisation of the world’s largest public company to more than $466bn, the FT reports. Apple’s shares have risen 23 per cent this year after blockbuster fourth-quarter results and record sales of iPads,
Greek bail-out hopes bolster bulls
The euro is firmer and stocks are rising as investors absorb the news that the Greek parliament has passed a further package of austerity measures, the FT writes. Athens will next attempt to reach a bond restructuring agreement with its creditors that should allow the heavily indebted nation to receive its second €130bn bail-out package.
Greek cabinet reshuffle expected
Lucas Papademos, Greece’s prime minister, is expected to reshuffle his caretaker cabinet on Monday after winning parliamentary approval for an austerity package, against a backdrop of violent anti-reform protests in Athens,
News Corp hit by trouble at second UK tabloid
Rupert Murdoch will fly to the UK this week to troubleshoot another crisis in his British newspaper business which threatens to reach to the heart of News Corp, reports the FT. UK police arrested five journalists of The Sun on Saturday,
Bubble warning over Toronto’s condos
Almost three times as many skyscrapers and high-rises are being built in Toronto than in New York, reviving fears that Canadian property prices are unsustainable, reports Bloomberg. Investors have rushed into Canadian housing in response to record low interest rates.
Volcker fires back on prop trading
Paul Volcker is set to launch a strong defence of banning proprietary trading in a comment letter on the rule which bears his name, says the WSJ. The Volcker rule would stop investors bidding up asset prices in the hopes of always finding a buyer,
Mass loan rollover and a property U-turn in China
China’s bank regulator has ordered lenders to roll over more than $800bn of local government loans coming due in the next three years as it bids to avoid a wave of defaults hitting the system, the FT reports.
Oil rush for private equity
The shale gas and fracking boom in America’s oil industry is attracting ever more private equity money, with funds signing three times the value of energy deals in 2011 compared to 2010, the WSJ reports.
Election-year budget projects $901bn deficit
The White House will unveil $350bn of jobs measures and $1,500bn in tax increases in its budget proposal for the 2013 fiscal year later on Monday, Reuters reports. The budget projects a $901bn deficit in 2013,
SEC scrutinising private equity
The SEC has begun a broad examination of the private equity industry, says NYT DealBook, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The regulator’s enforcement unit sent a letter late last year to several private equity funds as part of what it called an “informal inquiry” into the industry,