Search results for

London's cab drivers, long known for their forthright views, have recently turned their wrath on the financial markets. The problem is the plans of one black cab radio network, Computer Cab, to list 49% of its estimated value on London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim). At 80p a share, this should raise around £4 million to help pay for a new system called Mobistar, which uses a satellite to track the position of the cabs.

Monetary union without Germany, or more precisely without the Bundesbank: that's the prescription of Nobel laureate Franco Modigliani. The Bundesbank has already become the central bank of Europe, Modigliani argues, with its "miserable monetary policy" of high real interests in the face of low investment and rising unemployment. He would like to index central bankers' salaries to inflation and joblessness figures.

Ever had the feeling someone is watching you? You just might be right if you're a high-flier working in the City of London. Bosses are increasingly taking steps to ensure that employees intending to leave don't take valuable information, clients and colleagues with them.

Core European growth is picking up. Late last year, I said growth disappointments would make the "Emu on time" outlook seem less probable by early 1997. Consumer spending would disappoint because of Maastricht masochism and the fiscal squeeze, and because of job losses and labour market deregulation.

The fear and loathing generated by Krupp's attempted takeover of Thyssen, a rival German steel company, has not only thwarted that particular deal but also put back the entire German M&A business by several years.

Red-chip mania in Hong Kong reached new heights last month with the listing of Shum Yip Investment, the commercial investment arm of the Shenzhen municipal government.

If the EU's single currency begins on schedule in 1999, further breaking down national boundaries, France's capital markets will be a major contender for a central role, squaring up to Germany in the fight for benchmark status. And what if Emu is postponed? Katrin Fhima reports.

Attempts to establish standard terms and codes of practice for the trading of distressed corporate debt have been spurned so far by the London market. Buyers of loans who don't read the fine print can find themselves with unexpected legal obligations. By Christopher Stoakes.

In the time perspective of the bond markets, the European single currency is tomorrow, not some 20 months away. Issuers need to attract investors from a wider universe now. One approach is complex instruments that can eventually take on a euro denomination; another takes the plunge into a currency that doesn't yet exist. On the corporate front credit rather than currency is set to be the key determinant of performance. And that means European fund managers are likely to take an increasing interest in high-yield bonds. Peter Lee reports.

In an age of specialism corporate spin-offs have an inherent strategic logic. But they are also a potent way of unlocking equity value. Antony Currie reports on the spread of the technique from the US into increasingly equity conscious continental Europe.

Saying goodbye can be hard. But for globally focused Dan Tully it took the form of a world tour. The outgoing chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch went to New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London to meet clients and employees before his retirement this month.

"I was 100% an old-timer at Deutsche," says Roman Schmidt. So it surprised everyone when DMG's Frankfurt debt syndicate head announced his departure from the Deutsche twin towers to join BZW.