Alibaba heading to New York for market debut March 17, 2014 CHINESE e-commerce giant Alibaba said yesterday that it has decided to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, ending months of speculation that the firm would try to list in Hong Kong. The flotation could be the biggest since Facebook in 2012, with analysts estimating that Alibaba has a value of at least [...]
New online estate agencies plot a shake-up of property market March 17, 2014 EASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and former Capita chief executive Paul Pindar have thrown their weight behind two separate online estate agencies in an attempt to shake up the property market. The Greek-Cypriot billionaire is preparing to launch a new online venture, easyProperty, that aims to challenge traditional estate agents by offering a quicker and [...]
Canary Wharf to get first residential tower March 17, 2014 CANARY WHARF Group has become the latest developer to tap into London’s luxury housing boom after winning consent to build the business district’s first ever residential tower. Tower Hamlets has approved plans for the 58-storey Newfoundland skyscraper which will have 566 flats. Work is expected to start this summer and complete by 2018.
Malaysia plane search widens along new lines March 17, 2014 MALAYSIA has drafted in search teams from 25 countries to hunt for the missing flight MH370 as the search widens across swathes of Asian land and sea. Investigators have shifted the search area following a recently discovered satellite signal that suggests the plane was intact and probably airborne for seven hours after losing radar contact. [...]
Sixteen lenders accused of Libor manipulation March 17, 2014 SOME of the biggest banks across the UK, US and Europe are being sued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the US over claims their traders manipulated Libor interest rates. The regulator is launching legal action against 16 banks, including HSBC, Barclays, RBS, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) [...]
Non-exec directors on pay panels are given bigger wage increases March 17, 2014 NON-EXECUTIVE directors who sit on pay committees have given themselves an average pay rise of more than eight per cent in the last year, according to figures out today. The typical non-exec of a FTSE 100 firm was awarded a 2.8 per cent pay rise to take their wages to £65,816 last year, the smallest [...]
Treasury wants bank switching to be more like energy market March 17, 2014 PRICE comparisons between different banks’ current accounts will soon become clearer under a plan announced yesterday by the Treasury and the Money Saving Expert website. The two hope that a new system will allow customers to type in their financial details and receive advice on which current accounts are best for them. Currently comparison sites [...]
Lloyds vows to up SME lending March 17, 2014 LLOYDS will give more power to local branch managers to lend to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the bank said today. The managers will now be allowed to approve loans of up to £1m before asking for head officer permission, rather than £500,000. It is part of the state-backed lender’s pledge to lend £1bn more [...]
End to teaser rates at RBS March 17, 2014 RBS ATTACKED the credit card sector yesterday, calling zero-rate offers “debt traps” and promising to end the practice across its brands. It will no longer offer zero per cent purchase rates and balance transfers on its credit cards. “The credit cards industry is absolutely dominated by teaser rates, trapping people into a spiral of debt [...]
Hedge funds hire bankers to run portfolios bought from lenders March 17, 2014 BIG BANKS are selling off major portfolios of loans to shrink down in the wake of the financial crisis, and top staff are leaving too to manage the portfolios, according to a report out today from Interim Partners. Private equity groups and hedge funds are among those buying the loan books, then hiring bankers for [...]