PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Oct 26

The Financial Times

BUSINESS FACES SCRUTINY OF PFI WORK

Gordon Brown has announced a shake-up of information laws, meaning businesses will face greater scrutiny in public sector work and tougher curbs on data-sharing. Proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Act will allow businesses to gain access to information from bodies such as City academies, ombudsmen and regional assemblies, and ministers will consult on whether more organisations discharging a public function, including private sector companies running services for the public sector, should be brought within the ambit of the act.

PENSION INSURER'S DEFICIT GROWS

The Pension Protection Fund, the UK's insurance fund for occupational pensions, has announced a wider deficit for the financial year ended March 30 than it had the year before. Nearly all the difference has been accounted for by the adoption of more conservative longevity assumptions, essentially meaning that the organisation has increased the number of years it expects a man to live to retirement to 87.9 years, from 86.8 years in its report for 2006. The move is thought to underscore a previous message from the Pensions Regulator and the FSA that private sector bodies that take on longevity risk have not taken full account of the actual improvement in the lifespans of older people in their funding arrangements.

1.4 BILLION POUND PROPERTY DEAL STALLS

Delek Global Real Estate (DGRE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has announced it is going to pull out of a 1.4 billion pound deal to buy a large European property portfolio, on the same day the Bank of England warned of increased risks to the commercial property market. It is suggested the end of the deal is a harbinger of worse to come for a sector that in 2006 looked unstoppable. JP Morgan lowered its forecasts for the market, and estimated valuations could fall between 12 percent and 15 percent in the next 12 months. DRGE had hoped to purchase Jelmoli's property portfolio, but decided against the deal because of the change in, and continuing uncertainty of, the global commercial property market.

SPORTS DIRECT SUFFERING NEW CRISIS

It has been learned Sports Direct (SPD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)> has fallen into a new corporate governance crisis after Chris Bulmer, the only remaining independent non-executive director, resigned over a row about the constitution of the board. Bulmer, a non-executive director of Britvic (BVIC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said independent directors should insist corporate governance regulations are applied correctly, "otherwise, what's the point?". Bulmer disagreed with the appointment of two directors without there being an appointment for a new permanent chairman since the resignation of David Richardson.