Anonymous sources
Financial Times
Inside McKinsey - Financial Times
Even those who spoke on background for this article – and had left the partnership years earlier – occasionally slipped back into the first person plural when talking about the Firm. McKinsey teams often work to a template – an approach lauded by fans, ...
Carrefour board denies seeking new chief - Financial Times
Mr Plassat turned down the job earlier this month, according to a person close to Carrefour, who said informal approaches had been made, though no headhunter has been mandated to undertake a search. Carrefour, which until Friday would not comment, ...
Finmeccanica crisis puts pressure on chairman - Financial Times
One official source, who is involved in the issue and declined to be named, said he expected Mr Guarguaglini to step down as a result. Prime Minister Mario Monti has called on Finmeccanica to take “prompt” action to resolve the crisis. ...
RWE to sell Egyptian assets to bolster finances - Financial Times
RWE's oil and gas exploration unit RWE-DEA has identified Egyptian assets as the “most likely contenders” to raise cash while not undermining RWE-DEA's otherwise solid results, the FT has learnt from people briefed on the matter. ...
Grand China to clear debts with shipowners - Financial Times
An executive at Grand China, who asked not to be named, said the company was “negotiating and discussing” with the companies involved, most of which say Grand China, part of the powerful HNA Group, owes them several million dollars. ...
Thomas Cook poised to restructure - Financial Times
One of the banks, which asked not to be named, said there was no appetite for the lenders to take ownership of the troubled tour operator, which at the end of September had net debt of just under £900m. “We want to play it quite softly,” a person close ...
Stress tests leave unanswered questions - Financial Times
The analysts, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the design of the stress tests, was more rigorous than they had expected. But they warned that large omissions and questionable assumptions undermined the ...
Yahoo: private equity firms sound out lenders - Financial Times
Suitors, including Silver Lake and Alibaba, have separately approached banks about financing packages, the three sources said. Private equity bidders could probably get no more than 2x to 2.5x EBITDA leverage, the source and an industry banker said. ...
Chinese lender aims to secure Brazil foothold - Financial Times
China Construction Bank is in talks to buy a bank in Brazil amid plans to open a subsidiary in Latin America's biggest economy, according to officials and people familiar with the matter. The move comes as the leading Chinese ...
Disgruntled top talent deserts AOL - Financial Times
Current AOL employees who asked not to be named said the tensions between TechCrunch and AOL were not disrupting day-to-day work. And while Mr Armstrong has said that the value of TechCrunch has “gone up dramatically” since AOL bought it, many close to ...
Vodafone and Bharti raided in spectrum probe - Financial Times
Vodafone and Bharti had been informed ahead of time that the CBI officials would be visiting their offices on Saturday, a person close to the matter told the Financial Times. “It wasn'ta surprise visit,” the person said. The investigation into the ...
MF Global fund probe challenges 'error' theory - Financial Times
... regulators that an “operational error” masked transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars out of a customer account, but authorities are challenging this theory as they investigate the $600m shortfall, according to people familiar with the matter. ...
Edison/EDF: Discussions with Consob focusing on public offer pricing - Financial Times
A person close to A2A said that the mandatory offer issue will need to be resolved before the companies can move forward with their new agreement. Meanwhile, a person close to EDF has said that it hopes to resolve these issues before 30 November, ...
Carrefour senior executive resigns - Financial Times
Pascal Duhamel, the head of Carrefour Property, decided to leave Europe's largest retailer by sales several months after plans to spin off part of its property portfolio into a separate listed unit were shelved, a person close to the situation said on ...
Gingrich under fire over Freddie Mac fees - Financial Times
However, a person close to the mortgage giant confirmed to the Financial Times that the reported fees were in the right “ball park”. Mr Gingrich's relationship with Freddie Mac began in 1999, five months after he resigned from Congress, and continued ...
Ermotti to present UBS plan to investors - Financial Times
Carsten Kengeter, the head of UBS's investment bank, will stay on to oversee a sweeping restructuring of the Swiss group, according to people familiar with the matter, despite being passed over for the top job and still facing pressure to step down ...
Anglo faces legal fight with Chile miner - Financial Times
“This is not to annul the sale [of 24.5 per cent to Mitsubishi] but to protect the remaining 75.5 per cent stake so that it cannot be touched,” said a person close to the proceedings in Chile, citing court papers. “This is to protect Codelco's property ...
UniCredit set to exit London-based business - Financial Times
UniCredit's board on Monday will approve the plan and also decide whether to go ahead with a rights issue aiming at raising €5bn to €7bn, according to people familiar with the matter. UniCredit declined to comment. The European Banking Authority last ...
US prosecutors target accounting fraud - Financial Times
... Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Bureau of Investigation, is investigating the $600m shortfall in customer accounts at MF Global, the brokerage firm run by John Corzine, according to people familiar with the matter. ...
Noble eyes ex-Goldman banker for top job - Financial Times
Commodities trader Noble Group is in talks to recruit Yusuf Alireza, the former co-president of Goldman Sachs' operations in Asia excluding Japan, as its new chief executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. ...
Pacific Life spurs possible trade finance sea change - Financial Times
... of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is developing guidelines for regulators that would eventually allow insurance companies to become major investors in trade finance, according to two sources at the industry group that declined to be named. ...
US body considers easing MBS standards - Financial Times
The US organisation that sets the rules governing mortgage-backed securities is considering altering its standards to ease the trading of troubled loans, people familiar with the matter said. The potential change by the Securities Industry and ...
US officials consider options on mortgages - Financial Times
US policymakers are considering ways to buy troubled government-guaranteed mortgages from a new refinancing programme in case investors balk, according to people familiar with the matter. The initiative, known as the home affordable refinance programme ...
Abramovich says he needed protection - Financial Times
He also told the High Court that during that period when he started to make “serious money”, he wanted to keep a low public profile and did not want to be identified as the only shareholder of Sibneft following criticism of public figures in Russia who ...
Jeweller Graff plans $1bn Hong Kong IPO - Financial Times
However, the group is expected to make sales of about $800m in 2011, according to people familiar with the matter. Graff is not involved in mining but buys high-carat stones through an agreement with Gem Diamonds, in which Mr Graff owns a 14 per cent ...

