Financial adviser DeVere Group launches new private bank January 23, 2017 Those looking for a place to stash their cash have a new option, with financial consultants DeVere Group today launching a private bank. DeVere Group Bank St Lucia, which the group understands to be the first private bank to be independently owned by a financial advisory firm, was created out of the firms acquisition of Arton Bank. DeVere snatched up [...]
Business secretary backs City as a “huge national asset”, and hopes there won’t be fewer bankers as a result of Brexit January 23, 2017 The business secretary has today given his backing to the City of London, calling the financial sector a "huge national asset". His comments come just days after bosses from UBS and HSBC warned they could move thousands of jobs overseas because of the Brexit vote and, in particular, the risk they might lose valuable access rights to [...]
Financial services report gloomiest outlook since 2008 crisis January 23, 2017 Hiring increases in the face of falling optimism rounded off a mixed picture for the financial services sector in the quarterly survey run by the CBI and PwC. The survey of 103 firms showed declining sentiment for the fourth consecutive quarter. A drop of 35 per cent in optimism about the overall business situation was [...]
Nil points: Why boring Dublin and provincial Frankfurt won’t steal London’s financial services crown January 23, 2017 As chief executive of a UK SME reliant on a successful financial services sector, Brexit caused a mixture of emotions in me – anger and fear being two of them. But chief executives count action among their traits, so rather than listen to the relentless speculation about Article 50 and its implications, I downloaded the [...]
Macquarie’s rival SDCL lays out its plans for Green Investment Bank as talk grows of ham-fisted privatisation and possible flotation January 23, 2017 The Green Investment Bank (GIB) needs to be built up before it can be floated in several years' time according to a UK-based international consortium which wants to be reconsidered as a buyer for the government-owned bank. The consortium, SDCL, is backed by the UK's Pension Protection Fund, Hancock of the US and Mitsui of Japan. It [...]
Red tape warriors to the rescue: London’s top compliance staff to save City’s status post-Brexit January 22, 2017 Banking experts have identified an unexpected reason why big banks could keep major operations in London following Brexit – the capital's high numbers of top quality compliance staff. Bosses at HSBC and UBS said last week they could move thousands of staff out of London due to Brexit, triggering worries the UK could lose its [...]
London banking job losses will be “small” according to chancellor Philip Hammond January 20, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has said job losses at banks in the UK after Brexit will be “small”, after earlier calling for the maximum possible reciprocal trade access with the EU. Multiple international banks have announced they are considering moving jobs out of the UK in recent weeks, with London’s dominant financial services sector under threat. [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland flogs £235m of investment grade shipping loans to Japanese bank January 20, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold £235m of Greek shipping loans to Japanese firm Orix in an attempt to bolster the coffers of the majority state-owned bank. The sale is considerably smaller than the original $3bn deal to sell the whole of RBS' Greek shipping business to Orix, and a narrower portfolio compared with $600m of debt [...]
Close Brothers shares muted despite revealing strong first five months January 20, 2017 Close Brothers' share price was slightly up this morning after revealing a strong first five months of trading. The figures The FTSE 250 firm's loan grew by 2.3 per cent between July 2016 and the end of the year. Standing at £6.6bn, it was 9.3 per cent higher than the end of 2015. Managed assets by [...]
After meeting leading bankers in Davos, will Theresa May be able to limit job moves out of the City? January 20, 2017 Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, says Yes. Theresa May’s Brexit speech has been well received politically – but the implications for the UK’s financial sector are becoming apparent: banks are announcing the transfer of jobs out of London, the inevitable consequence of the government’s decision to leave the [...]