FSA hires grandees to help vet banking appointments November 26, 2009 THE FSA has appointed Nomura chairman Colin Marshall as chairman of its five-strong panel on corporate governance.Marshall joined Nomura as chairman in 2004 and is a senior City figure. The FSA has also appointed Sir David Scholey as one of its new team. He is also an adviser to UBS and a former member of [...]
Dubai’s debts spook lenders November 26, 2009 THE POOR credit status of Dubai’s main banks has sent shockwaves through the financial world. Investors are running scared as the emirate – which has experienced huge economic growth over the past decade – runs into trouble. Emirates Bank International, National Bank of Dubai, Mashreqbank and Dubai Islamic Bank were all put on credit watch [...]
British expat quits Qatari finance role November 26, 2009 STUART Pearce, a former corporate investment banker with HSBC, has stepped down as the chief executive of the Qatar Finance Authority, CityA.M. has learnt. Pearce, who has been in the post since August 2005, will leave it shortly to become special adviser to the chairman of the Authority for a six month period. His departure [...]
Q & A : What next for DubaI? November 26, 2009 Q. WHY ARE WORLD MARKETS NOW SO CONCERNED ABOUT DUBAI’S DEBT PROBLEM? A. European banks are exposed to about half of Dubai’s $80bn (£48.5bn) debt pile. The emirate’s debt moratorium triggered fears that those banks’ bad debts could worsen again, endangering the global recovery. Analysts at Credit Suisse said European banks could face a 5 [...]
THE LONG DUBAI November 26, 2009 DUBAI WORLD MAJOR HOLDINGS • Nakheel Properties – the world's largest privately held real estate company • Istithmar – a financial investment company • Limitless – real estate developer • DP World – listed on Nasdaq Dubai • Dubai Dry Docks – involved in ship repair • Dubai Ports (DP) World bought London-based container terminal [...]
Darling accused of breaking guidelines over big bank loans November 26, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling broke guidelines by not disclosing loans of more than £60bn to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS last year, a top opposition MP said yesterday. Tory MP Edward Leigh, who heads the cross-party Public Accounts Committee, said Darling went against ministerial guidelines and past practice by not telling him and the Labour [...]
BBA: Walker review must not hurt UK November 26, 2009 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the British Bankers Association (BBA) yesterday called on other nations to mirror the Walker reforms on disclosing £1m-plus earners and strengthening boards. BBA chief executive Angela Knight said Walker was right to insist on more time commitment from non-executive directors and financial industry experience to sit on the board [...]
Former RBSchair McKillop takes board role at pharma firm UCB November 26, 2009 SIR Tom McKillop, the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been appointed to the board of UCB, a large biopharmaceutical company which is listed in Brussels, it emerged yesterday. McKillop was one of the four bank executives who was publicly blamed for his role in the near-collapse of RBS. He was hired [...]
Bank of China moves into One Lothbury November 26, 2009 THE Bank of China, the world’s fourth largest bank, yesterday signed an £86m deal for the prestigious City building One Lothbury. The Bank of China, which currently occupies 48,000 sq ft at 90 Cannon Street, will move between 250 and 300 of its UK staff into its new flagship office, with the hope of expanding [...]
Japanese Prime Minister warns of chance of double dip recession November 26, 2009 JAPAN’S Prime Minister has warned that his country risks falling into a “double-dip” recession. Yukio Hatoyama is the first leader of a major power to admit that the recent recovery could be a false dawn. Japan’s export industry has been hit by the soaring yen and Hatoyama fears that the economy will again plunge into [...]