News

The deputy governor of the Bank of England has revealed how the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) nearly raised rates earlier this year, before the downturn hit markets.

FIVE OF THE BEST

Greece has postponed plans to hold a referendum on the European debt deal thrashed out by ministers last week after the country's opposition leader publicly backed the proposals.

Marlborough Fund Managers has announced plans to merge two UK funds, one of which was formerly run by Greg Bennett, into portfolios managed by Giles Hargreave.

The board of John Bennett's Gartmore European trust has outlined proposals to revamp the portfolio, including slashing holdings by 50% and renaming the trust.

The European Central Bank has made the unexpected move to cut interest rates by 25 basis points from 1.5% to 1.25%, as new president Mario Draghi moves to combat the crisis in Europe.

Both the German Dax and the French Cac 40 are rallying on hopes Greece is more likely to accept the debt deal, and as the ECB takes action to tackle the crisis.

Kames Capital's Bill Dinning said the ECB needs to urgently introduce quantitative easing to avoid a situation that would make the Lehman Brothers collapse look like "child's play".

Skandia Investment Group have teamed up with Aspect Capital to launch a managed futures fund, targeted at high net worth individuals.

Man Group's shares rose nearly 3% this morning after it reported pre-tax profit of $154m for the six months to 30 September 2011, ahead of the amount it forecast earlier this summer.