HSBC launches $1bn share buyback as break-up rumours swirl May 4, 2022 HSBC has launched a $1bn (£801m) share buyback programme today, as rumours of a break-up proposal swirl. The lender will buy shares for some $0.50 each, in a bid to shrink its outstanding ordinary shares, it said in a regulatory filing this morning. The agreement, where US bank Merrill Lynch will act as principal, will [...]
Investors’ warm response to break up rumours boosts HSBC shares May 3, 2022 Shares in Britain’s biggest bank climbed today in a sign investors backed a proposal by its largest shareholder to carve out its profit-machine Asia business. FTSE 100-listed HSBC’s shares gained 1.61 per cent today on the first day of trading in London since calls to break-up the lender strengthened. Ping An, a Chinese insurance giant [...]
Credit Suisse sued over links with Russian oligarchs May 3, 2022 New York law firm Pomerantz has filed a class action lawsuit against Credit Suisse, over claims the Swiss bank misled investors as to its dealings with Russian oligarchs. The lawsuit comes after shares in Credit Suisse dropped 2.58 per cent on 28 March, in response to reports claiming the investment bank has carried out extensive [...]
Millions of pensioners set to lose out as rampant inflation eats into capped pension schemes May 3, 2022 Millions of pensioners on “final-salary” pension schemes are set to lose out on thousands of pounds each, due to rampant inflation outstripping the cap on increases. Inflation is set to cost pensioners an average of £400 this year and £7,000 over their lifetimes, as soaring price rises eat into people pension pots. Almost all “defined [...]
Heyday: Goldman Sachs traders reap rewards of volatile global markets May 3, 2022 Turbulent markets have forged a heyday for Goldman Sachs, after the Wall Street trader generated revenue of more than $100m on 32 separate days in the first quarter of this year. Net revenues topped $50m on 45 days out of a total of 62 in the three months to March, within the US investment bank’s [...]
Jefferies offers stipends to allow staff to adopt or go through surrogacy May 3, 2022 Investment bank Jefferies has upped the stakes in the war for talent by offering a stipend of around £20,000 to staff looking to adopt or to go through the surrogacy process. The firm said in an internal memo that it was “enhancing our wellness benefits” with the stipends, which would be available to all staff. [...]
Suspicion remains that Rathi is annoying all the right people at the FCA May 3, 2022 An industrial dispute at the City regulator is always going to make good copy for financial journalists, and this week’s planned strike at the Financial Conduct Authority is no different. Scratch a little deeper, though, and it appears Unite the Union’s industrial action is more student politics than the first signs of revolution in Stratford. [...]
Green energy boom could be windfall for London insurers May 3, 2022 THE MASSIVE boom in energy projects required by a global shift twoards ‘net zero’ could double the London insurance market, according to a brokers’ body. The estimate of the amount of investment required in green energy to hit the zero emissions target by 2050 is around $5trn. Research by the London and International Insurance Brokers’ [...]
UK should follow in Chile’s footsteps with sustainability-linked bonds, says top think tank May 2, 2022 The UK should follow in Chile’s footsteps in issuing so-called ‘sustainability-linked’ bonds, which pay out more to investors should the government fail to meet its net zero targets, according to one of the country’s top think tanks. In a paper published today, the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has urged chancellor Rishi Sunak to haul in [...]
HSBC under pressure to split operations: reports May 1, 2022 An Asian shareholder is lobbying HSBC to split ifs operations into two, according to multiple reports this weekend. Chinese insurance giant Ping An, which owns just shy of ten per cent of the bank, is believed to want HSBC’s Asian business listed in Hong Kong and the rest to stay in London. Ping An is [...]