Surprise last minute deal on banking union March 20, 2014 EUROPE’S banks will fund a new bailout fund more quickly than expected, under a deal struck in the early hours of yesterday morning. The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) is the latest step of the banking union plans slowly being negotiated in Brussels. There were fears the European Parliament and EU Council would not be able [...]
Bond trader fined for auction abuse over QE March 20, 2014 EX-BOND trader Mark Stevenson was fined £662,000 and banned from the sector yesterday after the City watchdog found he had abused the market in a bid to profit from the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) programme. In October 2011 Stevenson bought up a large volume of illiquid gilts, so that he could push up the price in [...]
Hitachi to move its rail business over to Britain March 20, 2014 HITACHI, the company behind Japan’s bullet trains, is moving its global rail headquarters to the UK, cementing the firm’s focus on contracts here and in Europe. The company is due to open a factory in Newton Aycliffe next year, creating an initial 730 jobs in the north east of England. Hitachi Rail aims to expand [...]
Inside Track: In Barclays we trust: Retail investors rely on bank for new issues March 20, 2014 @hellierd There’s a page on the Barclays website that directs customers to the joys of investing in new issues and flotations. It is headlined: “Access investments before they become available on the market.” The trouble is that unless Barclays itself is working on one of the current crop of share issues, it is highly likely [...]
London Whale boss in tribunal claim against City watchdog March 20, 2014 THE BANKER accused of helping a derivatives trader hide $6.2bn ($3.8bn) of losses from JP Morgan’s senior managers and the regulators has filed a legal case against the City watchdog. Javier Martin-Artajo was the manager of the so-called London Whale trader. He filed the case against the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this month, Justice Department records [...]
Profits at Next set to overtake Marks & Spencer March 20, 2014 PROFITS at fashion and homeware retailer Next are set to top those at rival Marks & Spencer for the first time after the group rounded-off a buoyant year of sales with a strong Christmas trading period. The group, which has over 800 shops in the UK and overseas, said sales rose 5.5 per cent in [...]
Analyst Views: Do Next’s results bode well for another strong performance this year? March 20, 2014 JOHN STEVENSON | PEEL HUNT While maintaining a cautious tone regarding economic recovery, the forward guidance from Next is significantly stronger than in recent years and leaves market expectations at the bottom end of Next’s own range. Such confidence in outlook will raise pressure on competitors Marks & Spencer and Debenhams. KATE CALVERT | INVESTEC [...]
Mulberry to go picking for a new chief executive as Guillon quits March 20, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of Mulberry has abruptly left the group after presiding over a string of profit warnings and falling sales at the luxury brand, it confirmed yesterday. Bruno Guillon, who joined from French fashion brand Hermes in 2012, has been criticised for alienating Mulberry’s core shoppers by pushing up prices in an attempt to [...]
City braces for job losses at Deutsche Bank March 20, 2014 INVESTMENT banking jobs will go at Deutsche Bank as the German lender plans to make its operations more efficient, the bank’s annual report said yesterday. By contrast the bank’s executive committee will be paid €38.5m (£3.2m) for the year, up 46.4 per cent on 2012’s payouts. It comes after a tough year for Deutsche Bank [...]
Bottom Line: This will be the end for some – but for others it’s a chance to innovate March 20, 2014 GEORGE Osborne’s bombshell Budget announcement means the law that introduced annuities is not even going to make it to its 60th birthday. Since the Finance Act of 1956, Britons have been forced to buy an annuity at some point between the age of 60 and 75. But from April next year, that requirement will be [...]