If public confidence is to be restored, Congress will have to come up with an agreed bill before it breaks up for November’s mid-term elections. But, some say, there is a risk it will do too much rather than too little, and burden US industry with an unwarranted array of new regulations.. The banking group Investec yesterday confirmed its £700m London stock market listing was still on track despite the continuing tough market conditions which have caused yet another company, this time the Irish drinks and snacks business Cantrell & Cochrane, to abandon flotation plans. “The cost of delay would be miles more than the cost of going in the existing market,” he said.Investec will adopt a complicated dual-listing structure which will see its international operations listed in London while shares in its South African business will continue to trade on the Johannesburg market.

It will, however, operate as a single entity.It believes a London listing will help raise its profile by giving it better access to capital markets, enabling it to finance acquisitions more easily.. The odds on Andrew Crockett taking over as Governor of the Bank of England were slashed yesterday after he announced he was quitting as head of the Bank of International Settlements. Cantor Index cut its odds from 12-1 to 8-1 and then a few hours later to 5-1. Mr Crockett had started as a 20-1 outsider.”It is down to two or three names and Crockett is number two,” said one City economist who used to work in the Bank.The favourite in the race is Sir Edward’s deputy, Mervyn King, who is the 2-9 “hot” favourite. The other contender is Sir Howard Davies, the head of the Financial Services Authority, at 7-2.Ciaran Barr, the chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, said Mr Crockett would be a good choice for his contacts and international experience.”Speculation will undoubtedly increase that this clears the decks for him to have a nice holiday before taking over the reins at the Old Lady,” he said.Mr Barr pointed out Mr Crockett was an executive director at the Bank between 1989 and 1993 and spent 17 years before that at the International Monetary Fund.However Mr Crockett gave no clues to his future: “I have no plans as to what I will do and I don’t intend to make any plans until I have left here. That’s all I am going to say.”The final decision will be crucial, as the new Governor may oversee UK entry into the euro.

“If we join then the Governor’s job will be mainly about financial stability rather than monetary policy which would make Crockett a good fit,” a City economist said.Mr Crockett’s announcement came as a surprise to BIS staff, who were only notified by e-mail on Sunday night. He will step down nine months before his term was due to expire.. Kingfisher promised to treat Castorama with kid gloves yesterday after launching a deeply discounted £2bn rights issue to fund the takeover of the French DIY group. Kingfisher intends to hive off its electrical goods chains, which consist of Comet in the UK and Darty in France, in the next 12 months either through a demerger or more likely a flotation in Paris.Francis Mackay, Kingfisher’s chairman, said progress was being made on a replacement for Sir Geoffrey and the group expected to make an announcement within the next four months.The Castorama deal will be funded by a one-for-one rights issue at 155p – a 50 per cent discount to Kingfisher’s closing price last Friday – and £1.2bn in bank borrowings. The rights issue has been fully underwritten by UBS Warburg, CSFB and Goldman Sachs.Underwriting fees and legal charges associated with the rights issue are put at £40m while Rothschilds is receiving a £5m fee for the one month it took to compile the fair value report.Kingfisher said the takeover would dilute earnings in the first year because of the fall in stock markets since it first unveiled its offer to buy out Castorama in May. Since then, its own shares have fallen 20 per cent while the main French index, the CAC 40, has dropped 13 per cent.Savings from the takeover are put at £30m to £40m in the first full year rising to at least £55m in the following year.

The bulk of the savings will come from squeezing supplier costs, refurbishing Castorama stores, overhauling its pricing policy and adopting common ranges of products. Sir Geoffrey said that, over time, 50 per cent of the products stocked by Castorama and B&Q would be common compared with 10 to 20 per cent now.. Accounting concerns hit the US drugs giant Merck after it said it had booked as revenue $14.1bn (£9.3bn) that the company never received. A range of simple investment products must be created to help people on low incomes save, a review of Britain’s trillion–pound savings and investment industry urged today. Kingfisher seems finally to have got its Castorama buyout away, but as ever the only certain winners are the advisers For shareholders, the gains are far less certain. For shareholders, the gains are far less certain.The title of the 1940s book Where are the Customer’s Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street is based on a question that came up when JP Morgan was showing a client the marina of the New York Yacht Club. The fact that all the yachts were owned by investment bankers, rather than their customers, tells you all you need to know about Wall Street and the City It’s as true today as it ever was.