U.K. & Ireland

Financial News

Geithner, Brown Split on Transaction Tax as G-20 Seeks Rebalanced Economy Group of 20 governments split on whether to tax financial trading as part of a broader strategy to ensure the global economy’s expansion is less crisis-prone.

Biggest Cadbury Holder Franklin Bought on Bid Outlook, Has `Idea' of Price Franklin Resources Inc. fund manager Anne Gudefin, whose company is the biggest investor in Cadbury Plc, said she targeted the U.K. confectioner as a takeover candidate before Kraft Foods Inc.’s unsolicited approach.

British Airways Cabin Crews to Hold Strike Vote Over Planned Job Cutbacks British Airways Plc said the Unite union formally notified the company of plans to hold a strike vote for cabin crew, which could lead to the first walkout in more than a decade.

Ten-Year Gilts Post Biggest Weekly Drop Since January on BoE Slows Buying U.K. 10-year government bonds had their biggest weekly decline since January as the Bank of England boosted its debt-buying program by less than economists predicted and manufacturing and service industries grew.

JCB Chief to Depart Company After 18 Months Amid Profit Drop, FT Says JC Bamford Excavators Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Matthew Taylor will be replaced by Alan Blake, the chief operating officer, at the beginning of January, the Financial Times reported.

Barclays, Nomura Lure Hundreds of Bankers as Rivals Cut Jobs, Cap Bonuses Barclays Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc., which never ranked among the top 10 merger advisers worldwide in the past decade, are luring hundreds of bankers as competitors cut jobs and cap bonuses under government pressure.

RBS Has Quarterly Loss on $5.5 Billion Bad Loans, Credit-Market Writedowns Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest government-controlled bank, had a third- quarter loss after 3.3 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) of provisions for bad loans and credit-market writedowns.

BP Plans to Restart Texas City Refinery Cracking Unit After Maintenance BP Plc plans to resume operations today at a cracking unit at its Texas City, Texas, refinery, the third-largest in the continental U.S.

JPMorgan Said to Detect Kiener's K1 Fraud That Stung Banks, Bought Planes JPMorgan Chase & Co. found an unsettling fact buried in the books of newly acquired Bear Stearns Cos. last year: The brokerage had loaned millions of dollars to a German money manager for bets on hedge funds no one had ever heard of.

Lehman U.K. Administrator Can't Distribute Assets to Creditors, Court Says Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s U.K. bankruptcy administrators can’t go ahead with an expedited plan to distribute as much as $8.9 billion in assets to creditors, an appeals court ruled.

General News

Brown Says U.K. to Press Ahead Training Afghan Police After Troop Murders Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the U.K. will press ahead training Afghanistan’s army and police after five soldiers were killed by a rogue officer.

Global-Warming Accord Deadline May Slide a Year as Nations `Play Games' The deadline for 192 countries to complete a new global-warming accord may slip by as much as one year, as negotiators hold back on pledges to slash emissions or pay financial aid to poor nations.

Live Nation $149 Million Theater Sale Creates London Rival to Lloyd Webber The power balance has shifted in London’s West End with the creation of a theater company bigger than those owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh.

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