Rothschild selects new chief February 9, 2010 Rothschild is appointing its first chief executive who is not a member of the banking dynasty. Nigel Higgins, who has co-headed the investment banking business for the past decade, will take over from David de Rothschild at the helm of the family holding company in March. Rothschild is expected to remain executive chairman.
Northern Rock drops guarantee February 9, 2010 Northern Rock is set to drop its 100 per cent savings guarantee to ready itself for a sale. The nationalised bank will give three months notice to its customers, who will then be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the same way as depositors with other banks – £50,000 for each individual, or [...]
Sants tenders resignation as FSA chief February 9, 2010 FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) chief executive Hector Sants yesterday plunged the City regulator into disarray as he confirmed his resignation in the summer, although he was widely tipped to return to public office under a future Tory government. Shadow chancellor George Osborne, who is understood to be keen to see the FSA chief return to [...]
TIME LINE | THE LEGACY OF HECTOR SANTS February 9, 2010 1977 Hector Sants begins his City career at stockbroker Phillips and Drew, from where he moved to hold positions as vice chairman of UBS and chairman of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. 2000 Sants joins Credit Suisse First Boston as a member of its executive board and chief executive of the Europe, Middle East and Africa [...]
Macquarie in the doldrums February 9, 2010 Macquarie Group, Australia’s top investment bank, yesterday forecast a disappointing second-half profit and gave an outlook that raised worries about its key equity business, sending its shares sliding seven per cent. Macquarie warned in its trading update that some market conditions were weakening, creating concerns over its Australian equity capital markets business. The bank is [...]
MYNERS CALLS FOR PENSIONS ACTION February 9, 2010 CITY minister Lord Myners yesterday urged pension funds to play a greater role in demanding a crackdown on excessive bonuses to protect pensioners’ cash. Myners told the National Association of Pension Funds that fund trustees and institutional investors had a legal duty to pensioners to ask for higher standards from the financial services industry and [...]
Investment recovery drives annual profits leap at Beazley February 9, 2010 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley yesterday reported a 15 per cent jump in its annual profit as rebounding financial markets fuelled a recovery in its investment returns. Dublin-based Beazley said it had a pre-tax profit for 2009 of £100.7m, up from £87.2m the previous year. The improvement partly reflected a strong recovery in the performance [...]
Virgin Money wins acceptances for Church House Trust purchase February 9, 2010 VIRGIN Money yesterday said it had received acceptances from shareholders representing all of the voting rights for small bank Church House Trust, which it is buying to gain a full UK banking licence. The company, headed by Jayne Anne Gadhia, has already confirmed its interest in buying assets from Northern Rock, Lloyds Banking Group and [...]
UBS outflows spoil Grübel’s profits party February 9, 2010 UBS reported a return to profitability yesterday, but there were few celebrations as the Swiss bank revealed a haemorrhaging of private client money in the fourth quarter. Outflows almost doubled to SFr33.2bn (£20bn) after an aggressive Italian tax amnesty added to deeper problems associated with the international crackdown on banking secrecy. UBS chief executive Oswald [...]
Back in the black but doubts remain February 9, 2010 UBS might have hauled itself back into the black, but it is not out of the woods yet. It was primarily a reduction in costs that helped the firm post a profit, rather than a dramatic recovery in the top line. It managed to keep staffing costs low by doling out variable pay in shares, [...]