• Giving investment clubs the personal touch
    Friday, 19th March 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    IN these difficult economic times wealthy individuals have become intensely focused on wealth preservation, circling the wagons to protect what they have while continuing to look for opportunities to... [Read more]

  • Ignorance about bribery laws is no defence
    Friday, 5th March 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    WHAT does bribery mean to you? How about corruption? Is greasing palms an essential part of doing business or an illegal and ethically unsound practice that needs eradicating? It sounds like a simple... [Read more]
  • Changing the private equity model for good
    Thursday, 25th February 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    THE shift in investors’ attitudes towards private equity has been stark, with the relationship in some cases approaching complete breakdown. It is clearly an emotive subject – as evidenced by the... [Read more]
  • IPO failures give private equity a bloody nose
    Friday, 19th February 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    THE keenly anticipated flood of initial public offerings slated for early 2010 has failed to materialise as investors become increasingly wary of over-leveraged businesses coming to market.... [Read more]

  • Encouraging signs for job-seeking graduates
    Thursday, 11th February 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    THE number of opportunities for graduates remains in decline, but not by as much as previously expected. And for those hoping to enter the City after university, prospects remain good, according to... [Read more]
  • Business must get prepared for new bribery laws
    Friday, 29th January 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    BRIBERY and corruption is big business. Just ask a lawyer. With anti-bribery legislation passing through Parliament, a raft of corporate investigations, litigation support and crisis management... [Read more]
  • Minerva asks investors to vote again on chairman
    Tuesday, 26th January 2010
    PROPERTY
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    THE NEXT round in the protracted battle to reinstall Oliver Whitehead as chairman of Minerva is set to take place in early March when the property group will again seek shareholder approval for the... [Read more]
  • City advisers gearing up for a flood of M&A
    Thursday, 21st January 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    ABBEY National, Rover, Corus. Just three Great British companies that have fallen prey to foreign predators in recent years. You can add Cadbury to that list now that the board has recommended the... [Read more]
  • Insider trading: the crime no-one will discuss
    Thursday, 14th January 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    ASK any market participant where they stand on insider trading and you’re likely to be met with an awkward silence – particularly if you’re a financial journalist. As a criminal offence it is obvious... [Read more]
  • Business as usual in City as Britain grinds to halt
    Thursday, 7th January 2010
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    FREEZING weather, heavy snow and iced-up roads may have given many Londoners the perfect excuse to avoid work yesterday but thankfully the City of London continued to function as normal with the... [Read more]
  • Time for City to dig in and prepare for 2010 battles
    Friday, 18th December 2009
    CITY COMMENT
    BEN GRIFFITHS
    AS the year draws to a close thoughts are inevitably turning to the City’s prospects in 2010, a year which will feature economic uncertainty, new legislation and taxes and a general election which... [Read more]