New Corporate Finance Chief for MAG

Ken Duncan has resigned as finance director of Manchester Airports Group to set up his own business.

Mr Duncan held the post for nearly three years, following spells at companies including Rolls-Royce, General Motors Europe and Esso UK. He earned £384,000 in 2010. He has been replaced by Neil Thompson, previously MAG’s corporate finance director.

Mr Thompson, 40, is married with two children and lives in Hale. In his new role, he is responsible for all finance functions across MAG’s four airports – Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth – and its property arm, MAG Developments.

United Bank Expects Rs 308 Cr Capital Infusion by March End

New Delhi, Mar 17: Public sector lender United Bank of India today said it expects the government to infuse a capital of Rs 308 crore by the end of this month.

“We hope Rs 308 crore capital infusion by the government by the end of March,” United Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Bhaskar Sen said here, while launching the bank’s corporate finance branch here.

Asked about further capital raising plan, Mr Sen said, the bank is quite comfortable at the moment.

“There is a headroom and bank would take a call on follow-on public offer (FPO) by the end of next financial year (2011-12),” he said.

The Kolkata based bank came out with initial public offer (IPO) last year which was oversubscribed by 33 times.

Post-IPO, the government holding in the bank came down to about 84 per cent, against earlier level of 100 per cent.

Capital infusion into the bank will take place by way of preferential allotment of the equity. It is expected to raise the government’s holding in the bank.

The extraordinary general body meeting held on March 19 has already approved the proposal.

Besides Delhi, corporate finance branches were also opened in Mumbai and Kolkata.

Initially, Mr Sen said all corporate accounts enjoying a credit limit of Rs 50 crore and above in these centres will be transferred to corporate finance branches.

The purpose of opening of such branches is to give focused attention to the banking requirements of the corporate clients and to broad base the existing relationship with these corporates, he added.

United Bank Expects Rs 308 Cr Capital Infusion by March End

Government Must Continue to Help Economic Recovery

The British economy needs the government to support the economic recovery. The government must provide support to corporate banking if the UK's economic recovery is to keep its current pace.

Corporate Finance

This is according to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) latest UK Economic Survey.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria, during the corporate finance survey's release in London, praised the current policy of the Bank of England, adding: "To counter some of the negative impact, monetary policy should remain expansionary to support the recovery, even if headline inflation is currently above target."

It was also noted that the UK's tax system is inefficient compared to that in much of Europe, with only 60 per cent of the possible income from taxes collected.

Earlier this month, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee revealed it is holding interest rates at the record low of 0.5 per cent, the level at which rates have been for more than two years, with the meeting's minutes set to be released next week.

Grant Thornton Beefs Up Corporate Finance Team

Accountancy firm and business adviser Grant Thornton has made three additions to its corporate finance team in the South West.

Corporate Finance News

Paul Short has been appointed as associate director after five years at Grant Thornton’s Reading office. Meanwhile assistant manager Paul Eke, transfers to Grant Thornton’s Bristol-based corporate finance team from a transaction advisory services role and Mark Pope joins the firm at executive level from Smith & Williamson.

Mark Naughton, corporate finance director at Grant Thornton in the South West, said: “Our team advised on several of the region’s most high-profile deals last year.

“We expect the recovery in the region’s transactions market to accelerate in 2011, so Paul, Paul and Mark are joining us at what is an extremely important and exciting time.”

Grant Thornton is a Corporate financial and business adviser. It has 28 offices in the UK.

Deloitte Finance To Launch Bahrain Operations

Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited (DCF), a DFSA licensed investment business firm in the UAE, has received a licence from Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to open its branch in the Kingdom.

An affiliate of the UK and Middle East member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, DCF said it aims to provide the full range of financial advisory services currently provided by DCF (Dubai) including Islamic financial advisory services.

Ahmed Al-Bassam, director of Licensing & Policy, CBB said, “We welcome Deloitte’s decision to set up a regional branch of DCF in Bahrain.”

'This branch is licensed to provide corporate finance solutions to clients based in Bahrain as well as in the region. In addition the provision of Islamic financial advisory services will contribute significantly to the development of Islamic finance industry,” he noted.

With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries, Deloitte is one of the ‘Big 4’ professional services firms providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries.

“Bahrain was selected for the location of the new branch in recognition of Bahrain’s status as a regional financial hub,” said Roger Nasr, managing partner, Deloitte Bahrain.

“The establishment of a branch of Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited in Bahrain represents yet another significant milestone in its strategic investment in the Middle East region,” said Dawood Ahmedji, general manager, DCF in Bahrain.

“DCF in Bahrain is an integral part of our strategy to have a dedicated team of specialists providing financial advisory services to clients throughout the region. We look forward to sharing our corporate finance expertise with clients based in Bahrain and those looking to invest in Kingdom,” Ahmedji noted.

In addition to the main Deloitte office and the new DCF branch, Deloitte also selected Bahrain for the location of its regional Islamic Corporate Finance Group, which was launched in 2010.