| Swedish investment bank fined $7.7 mln
Swedish investment bank Carnegie was Friday fined 50 million kronor ($7.7 million , 5.4 million euros) and its chief executive and board sacked after a trading scandal, Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority said. The bank, which is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange and has operations in eight countries, had "serious deficiencies in its governance and control of the firm's operations," the authority said. The FSA said it came close to revoking Carnegie's licence but settled on a fine and warning after the company presented an action plan to improve routines. This is the first time the FSA's maximum fine of 50 million kronor has been handed down, Swedish financial daily Dagens Industry said. In May, the bank disclosed that it had overestimated its trading results by 630 million kronor ($97 million , 68 million euros) between 2005 and 2007, boosting profits and, in turn, executives' and employees' bonuses.
Goodyear Announces Conversion Period for Convertible Notes
AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) today announced that its 4.00 % Convertible Senior Notes due June 15, 2034 are now convertible at the option of the holders and will remain convertible through March 31, 2008, the last business day of the current fiscal quarter. The notes became convertible because the last reported sale price of the company's common stock for at least 20 trading days during the 30 consecutive trading-day period ending on January 16, 2008 (the 11th trading day of the current fiscal quarter), was greater than 120 percent of the conversion price in effect on such day. The notes have been convertible in previous fiscal quarters. The company will deliver shares of its common stock or pay cash upon conversion of any notes surrendered on or prior to March 31, 2008.
Europe's Discount Airlines Face Headwinds
Are Europe's budget airlines gearing up for an emergency landing? That's looking increasingly likely after British carrier EasyJet EZJ.L announced on Jan. 8 a 2.2 percentage point drop in its load factor, or proportion of seats filled, to 78.9% during December. The company's stock price fell 14% on Jan. 8—the biggest one-day drop since June, 2004—and continued to slide on Jan. 9, down 8% in late afternoon trading. To date, EasyJet's share price has fallen 25% in 2008, cutting its market valuation to $3.8 billion. The Luton (England)-based firm isn't the only one suffering from a post-holiday slump. Ryanair RYAAY, Europe's leading low-cost carrier, has seen its market capitalization fall 15% this year, to just over $8.6 billion. Shares in the Irish airline slid more than 6% on Jan.
TMB ties up with broking firm
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has entered into a partnership with Religare Enterprises Ltd, a stock broking firm and part of Ranbaxy group, to provide a range of financial services to its customers including online trading of securities. As part of its ongoing efforts to expand its partners in bancinvest channel, Religare would leverage its tie-up with TMB to penetrate into tier-II and III towns in Tamilnadu where the equity cult was yet to make an impact, said S Amarnath, regional head, Religare Enterprises. Moreover, the broking firm would have trained staff to work closely with the bank to provide the support required for servicing customers. The company offered a range of financial services including trading in equities, commodities, insurance broking, wealth advisory and portfolio management services to high net-worth individuals and NRIs.
Ford stock plummets to 22-year low
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - Ford Motor Co. fell to the lowest price since 1986 in New York trading after losing its status as the No. 2 seller of autos in the U.S. for the first time in three-quarters of a century. Ford slid 32 cents, or five per cent, to $6.13 at in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, a day after posting a 12 per cent drop in U.S. sales and forecasting a "challenging" 2008. Toyota Motor Corp., which modeled itself on Ford following the Second World War, has overtaken the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker on its home turf. The market value of the 104-year-old company founded by Henry Ford has tumbled to $13 billion from $68 billion in 1998, when Ford sold one of every four new vehicles in the U.S. Three restructuring plans at Ford since 2001 have failed to stem 12 years of plunging U.S.
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