CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs July 28, 2009 Noble The independent investment bank has hired Mileen Rash for its equity sales team, Sanjay Vidyarthi as lead analyst covering retail and Marianne Headey as head of roadshows. These appointments further the expansion of Noble’s equities business and corporate broking division, following the recent appointment of Michael Burt to lead research in real estate, and [...]
Treasury refuses to examine cost of EU hedgie crackdown July 28, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling is refusing to investigate how much European plans to crackdown on hedge funds will cost the industry. The Treasury has admitted it will not carry out an “impact assessment” on a EU draft law which could damage London’s position as a global hedge fund centre by imposing a strict disclosure regime and [...]
Branson and sheikh go for final frontier July 28, 2009 VIRGIN Galactic’s space flight business is selling a $280m (£170m) stake to Manchester City football club’s Middle Eastern owner. Sir Richard Branson will sell 32 per cent of the company to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who last month made a £1.5bn profit selling shares in Barclays. Branson aims to have commercial space flights running [...]
IBM unveils giant SPSS buyout July 28, 2009 IBM unveiled plans to buy business analytics company SPSS yesterday for $1.2bn (£730m) in cash, to better compete with rivals Oracle and SAP in the growing field of business intelligence. The offer, under which SPSS shareholders would get $50 a share, could trigger mass consolidation in the industry.
UBS client in US admits tax fraud July 28, 2009 A US client of Swiss bank UBS pleaded guilty yesterday to using Swiss bank accounts to hide more than $8m from US tax authorities. And he said a Swiss government official received $45,000 to help cover up the fraud. Jeffrey Chernick of New York admitted using using a UBS account for tax fraud, as he [...]
SJ Berwin lawyer drowned self July 28, 2009 A top lawyer threw herself into the Thames after struggling with the demands of motherhood and a City career, an inquest heard yesterday. Catherine Bailey, a partner at SJ Berwin who specialised in banking and commercial law, may have been suffering from postnatal depression, the inquest heard. She was found dead near Richmond bridge six [...]
Coffee Republic snapped up July 28, 2009 Coffee Republic, the chain that was on the brink of collapse after sales plummeted in the downturn, is to be bought by Arab Investments. It is thought the private property firm that is building the Pinnacle skyscraper in London will today confirm the buyout, with an eye to expanding the brand.
Kingman loss is a huge blow to Brown July 28, 2009 THERE is a great anecdote about John Kingman, the civil servant who yesterday shocked the City by announcing his resignation as CEO of UKFI, the holding company for state-owned banks. Back in 1994, the 25-year old Kingman, still fresh out of Westminster School and Oxford University, was working as private secretary to the financial secretary, [...]
Informa cost cuts boost margins July 28, 2009 Business publishing and events group Informa said it is trading in line with expectations yesterday, thanks to aggressive cost cuts that boosted margins. It said it may exceed last year’s adjusted operating profit margin of 23.1 per cent, as registrations for its conferences and courses are now stabilising.
Santander eyes Brazil arm listing July 28, 2009 Spanish banking giant Santander is thought to be planning a stock-market listing of its Brazilian arm that could raise as much as $3bn (£2.6bn). Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and UBS are advising on the plans to float around 20 per cent of the division, which would create one of the biggest listed banks [...]