International news round-up

Raising money

LONDON: The UK governments GBP 1.75 billion bond auction failed, raising fears that the UK government���s plan to borrow its way out of the recession is not attracting investors. This is the first time in 7 years that a government borrowing auction has failed.

UK hopes to raise GBP 146.4 bn in bonds this year, amids rising concerns that Gordon Brown���s government is borrowing far too much. Bank of England governor, as well as UK industrial bodies have warned that any more fiscal stimulus could be dangerous for the economy.

However, Arcelor Mittal successfully managed to place and offering for Euro 1.1 billion in convertible ���exchangeable bonds with the market. Indicating rising demand among investors, Arcelor Mittal raised the offering from Euro 750 million, making it the largest capital market issue by a non finance company this year.
Jobs & Jobs

Tata group head Ratan Tata in a television interview warned that if the UK government doesn���t move to provide about GBP 500 million in loans to Jaguar Land Rover, the consequences could be dire for the future of the company, and lead to plant closures and further job cuts.

Jaguar Land Rover had initially asked for a GBP 1 billion loan to tide the carmaker over the current crisis. Meanwhile, HSBC has said it could slash almost 1200 jobs in its UK operations, mostly in back office. Unions have argued that the job losses could total up to 3000, mostly in back office operations like call centres and service centres.

Bashing bankers

Rising anger against bankers took an ugly turn as the home of the former RBS boss, Sir Fred Goodwin, was attacked and vandalized in UK by a group claiming to be against greedy bank bosses. Fred Goodwin, who is in the eye of a storm over a huge pension payout after bringing the bank to its knees, has already had to pull his children out of school and is in an undisclosed location.

On the other side of the Atlantic, bonus earners at AIG who had their names revealed have also received death threats, even as US Congress demanded names. There is rising concern among the financial and business community that outrage will spill into real violence against bankers.