Wednesday paper round-up: Euro, BP, Google

19th May 2010 06:23

The euro hit a new low against the dollar yesterday after Germany announced a surprise ban on naked short selling and a new tax on banks, fuelling fears that European leaders were mismanaging their sovereign debt crisis.The euro, which had already hit a four-year low against the dollar on Monday, slid even further to $1.212, its lowest level against the greenback since April 17, 2006, after Germany instituted a ban from midnight last night on the naked short sale of shares in the country's top financial institutions and the bonds of eurozone countries. Germany also prohibited the purchase of credit default swaps (CDS) on eurozone government bonds, other than for hedging purposes, the Times reports.George Osborne, chancellor, yesterday bowed to pressure for tighter regulation of Europe's hedge fund and private equity firms, but insisted there was still "much to play for" in improving the final deal. The approval of the controversial rules by finance ministers follows a similar endorsement by a group of EU lawmakers on Monday and brings regulation of the "alternative investment fund" industry closer, the FT reports.Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, has sought to calm US fears about deepwater drilling by claiming the environmental impact of its giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be "very, very modest". However, his comments came as Ken Salazar, the US Interior Secretary, launched a renewed attack on BP and its rivals for reacting with "ire" at the prospect of tighter safety procedures. Mr Hayward's reassurances also coincided with the discovery of tar balls from the the spill off Florida for the first time, the Telegraph reports.The chief executive of Rolls-Royce has raised £2.66m selling shares in the company, before a possible increase in capital gains tax. Sir John Rose has reduced his personal shareholding in Rolls by half, selling 400,000 shares at 597.38p yesterday. He sold a further 45,191 shares from a nominee account. Alan Wiseman, the former chairman of Robert Wiseman Dairies, also sold a large uantity of shares yesterday, raising £2m, the Times reports.US stock exchanges are to impose market-wide "circuit breakers" on major companies' shares in a bid to prevent a repeat of the near-1,000 point fall on the Dow Jones Industrial Average two weeks ago. The curbs - which are being proposed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq and other major exchanges - are designed to ensure that the dramatic and unprecedented market-wide sell-off cannot happen again, the Telegraph reports.A former trader for the London-based hedge fund AKO Capital today admitted to insider dealing, becoming the first person to confess to the offence since the Financial Services Authority began a wave of prosecutions last year. Anjam Ahmad, 39, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London to one count of conspiracy to commit insider dealing, relating to transactions in the shares of 22 companies, the Times reports. The May survey of investors by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed revulsion towards the euro and European shares as funds battened down the hatches for a global "growth shock", switching their affections to "safe-haven" America in record numbers. "Investors have capitulated on Europe, beaten down by sovereign debt concerns and faltering growth expectations," said Gary Baker, the bank's chief European equity strategist, the Telegraph reports.Rocketing car insurance premiums - up 6.3% in April alone - have added significantly to record-breaking inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics. Apart from petrol, car insurance premiums are the fastest rising of the price categories monitored by the ONS, with the annual rise hitting 26.1%, the Independent reports.Google looked to soothe consumer concerns over privacy in the wake of recent issues at its Street View business yesterday, saying it was the safest company for online data. The company has come under fire after it revealed that engineers in its Street View cars had mistakenly gathered personal data from Wi-Fi in the areas they were photographing, the Independent reports.