Word: block
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...even as the takeover bid was welcomed by the Northern Rock board and the British government, shareholders small and large indicated they may block Branson's bid, a move that could protract efforts to save this high-profile casualty of the global credit crunch, and cause a full-blown political crisis for Chancellor of the Exchequer-turned-Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who has already seen his reputation for fiscal prudence damaged by the affair...
...Robin Ashby of the Northern Rock Small Shareholders Group, an "overwhelming majority" of shareholders at a meeting on Monday in the northern English city of Newcastle where the lender is based, agreed in an informal vote that Branson?s offer undervalued the company. Shareholders still have the power to block a sale because the bank has not officially been declared insolvent, despite its reliance on an approximate $47 billion bail out made by the Bank of England in September, when Northern Rock revealed its financial difficulties. "The directors need to be aware that they are not going...
...Shareholder dissatisfaction now sets up a showdown with Britain's Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Financial Services Authority (which support the deal in large part because it promises an immediate repayment of $22.7 billion of the $47 billion bail-out). Should shareholders block the takeover, and no other suitable bidders are found, the British government could decide to nationalize the bank or force it into bankruptcy, stripping shareholders of their investment. Either resolution would further embarrass a government still reeling from criticism of its handling of the early stages of the crisis. In September, nervous pensioners withdrew...
...power. Labor won many of its lower-house seats with Green preferences, and the Greens are much further to the left than Rudd. Greens Senator Kerry Nettle warned before the election that "We will be the hand on the shoulder of Kevin Rudd," but said "we will not block changes that head in the right direction...
...opposition appears no more willing to allow an already fraught situation to deteriorate any further. Wiam Wahhab, a senior opposition figure, told TIME that opposition supporters were prepared to take to the streets if the March 14 block attempts a unilateral move on the presidency, but doubted such an outcome. "I don't think they will dare try this, unless the Americans have a benefit from it in which case we will have another problem," he said...