He made it clear yesterday that the arrangements agreed with Merrill Lynch should serve as a template for others
He made it clear yesterday that the arrangements agreed with Merrill Lynch should serve as a template for others. His inquiry has since widened to include other institutions on Wall Street, including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Indeed, few on Wall Street believe that the affair is over. The other large institutions have had fair warning that they could soon be facing the same treatment meted out to Merrill Lynch. Doubtless that prospect prompted Goldman Sachs yesterday to issue a statement saying it will review at once how it pays its stock analysts. It also said it has hired a former Federal Reserve Bank of New York chief executive, Gerald Corrigan, as an in-house research ombudsman.Whether the threat of civil suits can be eliminated, meanwhile, is far from clear. “I don’t think this by any means puts everything behind them,” Justin Hughes, of analysts Robertson Stephens said.
“They’ve still got class actions to deal with and they still have to deal with restructuring the business.”. Marks & Spencer claimed it had turned the corner as it reported its highest profits for four years alongside plans to expand in financial services, home furnishings and food. “We’ve been very cautious up to now not to call a turnaround,” he said. “But I think these figures provide evidence that we have turned the corner. I must admit we were helped by a more buoyant market, but everyone needs a bit of luck.”Mr Vandevelde now seems certain to receive the £707,000 bonus that he waived last year, though half must be taken in shares.
He is also in line for a further bonus equal to his £650,000 salary This should take his total pay to £2m. His four million share options are worth £6m after the surge in the share price in the past year. Roger Holmes, managing director of UK retail, has options worth £1.8m.Reporting a 31 per cent jump in full-year profits to £647m, M&S outlined plans to expand outside its core clothing business. The recovering retail giant will test two huge standalone home furnishings stores over the next 18 months. The 70,000 square foot, out-of-town stores will stock an extended range of furniture as well as kitchen, bedroom and bathroom accessories. M&S tried home furnishings stores once before in the 1980s though found its limited range in high street locations did not work.There are plans to open 20 more branches of its Simply Food convenience store concept this year. There are currently six outlets with the next two due to open in Clapham and Greenwich, south London.In financial services, M&S will test a combined credit card/loyalty card in Wales and the North east in the autumn.
