The financial services sector needs a shot of confidence to mitigate Brexit March 22, 2019 To mitigate the hammer blow that the Brexit omnishambles have inflicted on the UK’s financial services sector, confidence needs to be rebuilt – and fast. Indeed, even if there were now no divorce between the UK and EU, the damage to the financial services industry has been done. As a result of several years of uncertainty, [...]
Monetary policy is no job for the politicians March 22, 2019 At a time of such sweeping uncertainty, anything predictable is reassuring. This week, that reassurance came from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, which yesterday voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold. This had been widely expected, but that doesn’t mean that central bank decisions should be taken for granted. Across the Atlantic, the [...]
TfL awards controversial £1bn ‘sale and leaseback’ Crossrail fleet deal to Natwest-backed group March 22, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) has awarded a controversial £1bn "sale and leaseback" deal for a fleet of Crossrail trains to a rail company backed by Natwest and Japan's second largest bank. 345 Rail Leasing, which was set up in January this year and comprises Equitix Investment Management, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Natwest, will own the [...]
Indonesian airline Garuda ditches order for Boeing planes after deadly crash March 22, 2019 Indonesia’s national airline has become the first to cancel an order for the Boeing jet which has crashed twice in recent months. Garuda Indonesia’s finance chief said the company had asked Boeing to change an order of 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, valued at around $6bn (£4.6bn). The firm plans to stick with Boeing [...]
Editor’s Notes: A dose of rational optimism blew away the fog of Brexit March 22, 2019 After another week of Brexit-related chaos, I was determined to cheer myself up yesterday, and so set a course for the annual Adam Smith Institute lecture in the House of Lords. This year’s speaker was Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard – and a master optimist. If Pinker’s empirical case for the [...]
City Moves for 22 March – who’s switching jobs at Rabobank, Legal & General and Exterion Media? March 22, 2019 Who’s on the move? Rabobank Rabobank, the global food, beverage and agribusiness bank, has appointed Thomas Levin as senior coverage banker in its global corporate clients team, based in London. Thomas brings more than 13 years of experience in corporate and investment banking. He joins from Mizuho Bank where he was responsible for originating M&A [...]
Institute of Directors concerned over future of UK corporate governance under new audit regulator March 21, 2019 The Institute of Directors has expressed concern over the future of corporate governance in the UK following the establishment of a new audit regulator. The influential business organisation said the proposed regulator that is set to replace the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which is being abolished in the wake of a string of corporate scandals, [...]
Levi shares soar as jeans retailer makes stock market return March 21, 2019 Shares in jeans retailer Levi Strauss soared more than 30 per cent as it returned to the stock market today, giving the company a market value of $8.7bn. The denim brand, which has described itself as “the inventor of blue jeans”, started trading on the New York Stock Exchange this morning after it was taken [...]
Energy supplier owed £12m to customers when it went out of business March 21, 2019 Failed supplier Economy Energy owed nearly £12m to customers when it went out of business earlier this year, according to new documents. Filings with Companies House show the company was £67.6m in debt when it entered administration at the beginning of January. Read more: Ofgem bans E from buying customers from failed provider Economy Energy [...]
Deutsche Bank drops down investment bank table while Barclays gains ground March 21, 2019 Deutsche Bank has fallen below its US rivals in a ranking of investment banks in Europe, adding to the under-fire German lender’s woes. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs both jumped above Deutsche Bank in a ranking of the world’s investment banks at the end of last year. JP Morgan maintained the top spot in both the [...]