FSA bans insurance broker July 15, 2009 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday prohibited Graham Darby, director of insurance broker Ambrose Darby, for failing to control the business of the firm adequately. The order bans Darby performing significant influence functions at any authorised financial firm. The FSA found that Darby, who was diagnosed in July 2008 with a severe medical condition, did [...]
Aviva reassures on capital July 15, 2009 Insurer Aviva’s regulatory capital cushion is getting stronger, and the group is not planning any further disposals, its chief executive, Andrew Moss, said yesterday. In an interview, Moss said Aviva, the UK’s second-biggest insurer, had called time on disposals after offloading Aviva Australia to National Australia Bank in June, adding £400m to its capital cushion. [...]
TEENAGE SCRIBBLER OWES HIS DOG A BONE July 14, 2009 THIS is the face of the “teenage scribbler”, the 15-year old Morgan Stanley intern who set the world on fire, sort of anyway, earlier this week with his musings on media consumption among his peers. Young Matthew Robson must be wondering what has hit him since Morgan Stanley published the paper he wrote in the [...]
CITY EYE July 14, 2009 The Barbican estate was looking resplendent yesterday, despite turning 40 years old earlier this month. When the first resident moved in, the concrete giant had just as many critics as it did admirers. But now the three towers, which dominate the heart of the City, are widely recognised as a fine example of post-war architecture.
BBC bonuses culled amid profit slide July 14, 2009 THE BBC’s commercial arm reported a 27 per cent drop in full-year profit yesterday, as the broadcaster said it had suspended all executive director bonuses until further notice. BBC Worldwide said pre-tax profit slid to £85.7m in the year ending March 2009, despite revenue hitting £1bn for the first time. The company blamed the drop [...]
Petrol sellers’ popularity at the mercy of pricing July 14, 2009 JUST how much some brands are affected by price can be seen in the first graph, which plots the average BrandIndex score of six petrol companies (BP, Texaco, Shell, Esso/ExxonMobil, Total) against the inverse of petrol prices. It shows an extraordinary correlation of 0.91. Every price movement has a predictable effect on the brands’ ratings. [...]
WEST END SUMMER BOOM July 14, 2009 LONDON’S West End is expecting a “gold rush” of 140,000 shoppers from the Middle East over the Summer in advance of Ramadan, spending an estimated £250m. As the Euro shopper market softens, retailers are for the first time pulling out all the stops, including extending opening hours and making key additions to the services on [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 14, 2009 Piper JaffrayThe international middle market investment bank announced the appointment of Martin Brennan as associate for its technology banking team, which is led by Eric Sanschagrin. Brennan was previously senior associate at FirstCapital, a boutique telecoms, media and technology investment bank. He advised on nine technology Venture Capital and Private Equity financings and six M&A [...]
Oil price dips on demand worries July 14, 2009 US oil prices dipped into negative territory yesterday as dealers worried a bumpy economic recovery could delay a rebound in ailing world energy demand. US crude fell 9 cents to $59.60 a barrel, extending a decline that shaved 11 per cent from the price last week. London Brent crude rose 7 cents to $60.76.
RBS merges Asia-Pacific teams July 14, 2009 Royal Bank of Scotland is to combine its Asia-Pacific investment banking teams ahead of a likely sale of its Asian operations to Australia’s ANZ, Standard Chartered or HSBC. The bank will merge its advisory, wholesale banking and risk management operations in a move it said would help it better serve clients in the region. The [...]