Emerging markets come to a halt April 3, 2014 The HSBC emerging markets index hovered barely above the neutral 50 mark in March, at just 50.3, the fourth month in which firms in developing economies have reported slower growth in activity. Output fell marginally in China and India, according to the index, with a minor improvement for Brazil and the most severe drop for [...]
Mozilla boss out over gay rights row April 3, 2014 Mozilla, the US developer behind the popular Firefox browser, announced its chief executive Brendan Eich has stepped down, after just 11 days in post, due to controversy surrounding his donations to opponents of gay marriage. “We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry,” said Mozilla executive chairwoman Mitchell [...]
Pay hike for Credit Suisse’s boss April 3, 2014 EMBATTLED Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan received a 26 per cent pay hike this year, the bank’s annual report revealed yesterday, despite ongoing legal woes in the US. The Swiss bank is facing claims in the US that it helped clients avoid taxes. As a result Credit Suisse has set aside SFr895m (£605m) to cover [...]
RBS and NatWest downgrade 84,000 private bank accounts April 3, 2014 TENS of thousands of RBS and NatWest’s richest customers are being downgraded to normal accounts because they do not meet tough new criteria for the private bank, City A.M. has learned. The bank has written to 120,000 customers to tell them about the changes. Under the new rules customers will need an individual income of [...]
Kingfisher bids for French rival Mr Bricolage April 3, 2014 EUROPE’S biggest home improvement retailer Kingfisher has bolstered its presence in France by agreeing to buy smaller rival Mr Bricolage for €275m (£227m) including debt. The B&Q owner, which makes about half of its annual profit in France, said it has entered exclusive talks to buy 26.2 per cent of the share capital from the [...]
Crackdown on payday loans may boost black market, warns MP April 3, 2014 DRIVING payday lenders out of business could push the worst firms – and the most vulnerable clients – into illegal lending, Mark Garnier MP warned yesterday. He fears that moves designed to stop the “more vile” lenders exploiting borrowers could also push decent firms out of business. “The alternative to legal credit is illegal credit,” [...]
Wealth bosses in takeover April 3, 2014 GROWING consolidation in the wealth management sector continued yesterday after Thurleigh Asset Management merged its firm with larger rival Ingenious Asset Management. The deal will give Ingenious an extra £300m of assets, taking its total assets under management to £1.8bn. The deal comes on the back of Rathbone Brothers acquisition of Jupiter and Tilney private [...]
Ex-Axa buyout unit raises cash April 3, 2014 ARDIAN, the private equity unit spun out of investment giant AXA, has raised €500m (£413m) to invest in small businesses across Europe. The fundraising comprises €450m through a traditional buyout fund – the third fund raised through its Expansion brand – and a €50m pot from investors for direct co-investments. It follows on from Expansion [...]
Strategy&… is it a typo? No it’s another rebrand April 3, 2014 MANAGEMENT consultancy firm Booz & Co, to mark its takeover by accounting giant PwC, is undergoing a rebrand with an unusual new name, Strategy&. Pronounced “Strategy and” the change is apparently a requirement of the break up of Booz Allen Hamilton in 2008, from which Booz & Co emerged, which stated that the firm couldn’t [...]
Finance boost to EU laid out April 3, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Union’s financial services provide 11m jobs and €636bn (£525.73bn) of value added, according to a report by TheCityUK, coming as part of a campaign to promote the importance of the sector to Europe. The research, seen exclusively by City A.M, lays out the contribution of finance firms towards employment and trade. The sector [...]