Abbey grabs lending lead July 30, 2008 Abbey is poised to topple Halifax as the UK’s top lender of new mortgages after revealing first half results today that showed the Spanish-owned bank now writes one in three new mortgages in Britain. As rival lenders withdrew mortgage deals from the perilous credit market, Abbey’s share of new lending rocketed to 35 per cent [...]
New Caz boss: I won’t turn us into sharks July 29, 2008 JP Morgan Cazenove’s brand new CEO Naguib Kheraj has a long history in investment banking, having worked at Salomon Brothers and Robert Fleming prior to a 10-year career at Barclays. He joins the British investment bank at an opportune moment, as the famously blue-blooded organisation looks for experienced heads to guide it into the future. [...]
KKR seeks new talent ahead of float July 29, 2008 Top executives at KKR, the US private equity group which is to merge with one of its funds and list in New York, said yesterday it would set aside a stake in the business to attract “new talent”. KKR will hold 79 per cent of the new quoted company, but will allocate 20 per cent [...]
Tesco buys out RBS in £950m deal July 29, 2008 Britain’s retail giant is to take full control of its Tesco Personal Finance joint venture Tesco, the retail giant that already dominates the grocery market, is accelerating its push into financial services with a £950m buyout of the 50 per cent it does not own of its financial services joint venture with RBS. The buyout [...]
KKR defies the credit crunch with surprise £7.5bn flotation July 28, 2008 The legendary firm of New York buyout experts insists that going public is the best strategy Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the fabled US private equity group, is to go public in a deal which will see it merge with one of its listed funds and float on the New York Stock Exchange. KKR, whose founders include [...]
Two latest collapsed US banks avoid IndyMac-style panic run July 28, 2008 Customers of two banks closed by federal regulators in the US on Friday were assured over the weekend that every penny of their money was protected, preventing lines of angry accountholders from forming. The calm response was a stark contrast to the hundreds of angry customers who waited for hours earlier this month in Southern [...]
Citi’s Klein walks away with £21.4m July 28, 2008 Michael Klein, the chairman of Citigroup’s institutional clients group, will walk away with a non-competition pay-out of £21.4m ($42.6m) when he leaves the New-York based bank later this year. The staggered scheme will see Klein receive £2.8m on 1 August, followed by £10.7m in March 2009 and £3.8m in October 2009, providing he does not [...]
Lenders hope for boost from Crosby July 28, 2008 The crumbling housing market is holding its breath for the publication of the Crosby review tomorrow into the funding struggles facing British banks, amid speculation that the government is working on a new mortgage debt swap plan to help soften the effects of the credit crunch. Sir James Crosby, the former HBOS chief executive and [...]
HBOS set to report big fall in profits July 28, 2008 Troubled mortgage giant HBOS will announce interim results this week, with profits expected to have fallen more than 50 per cent year-on-year, as investors call for asset sales to offset heavy write-downs. Analysts are forecasting a slump in profits to £1.3bn, due in part to losses related to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and stuttering [...]
Prudential eyes Wigley for top role July 28, 2008 Bob Wigley, the veteran banker who is leading Boris Johnson’s review of the City, is in line to become the new chairman of the Prudential. Wigley, who currently serves as head of Merrill Lynch’s European operations, is on a shortlist of candidates to run Britain’s second largest insurance group. Prudential’s interest will fuel speculation that [...]