What you need to know before the open – 02/12 December 2, 2013 It's a big week for the UK, with manufacturing, construction and services PMIs for November and, of course, the chancellor's Autumn Statement on Thursday. US markets continue to go from strength to strength, with the S&P 500 hit another record high on Friday. Busyness on the macroeconomic front will be seen more widely, too, [...]
Amazon pioneers drones for deliveries December 2, 2013 Online retailer Amazon is testing unmanned drones to deliver products to consumers in record times. Instead of being the preserve of the US military and law enforcement, drones could be making the Christmas delivery rounds within five years according to the company. Amazon chief executive, Jeff Bezos told CBS television's 60 Minutes "We can do [...]
ECB lays blame for market risk on taper gossip December 2, 2013 TURBULENCE in global markets is an escalating risk to the Eurozone’s financial stability, even as funding challenges for the region’s banks begin to abate, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). Yesterday’s financial stability review from the ECB says that concerns around turbulent markets have grown since May, blamed mainly on the expectation of major [...]
Europe’s banks told they have €280bn hole December 2, 2013 EUROPE’S banks have a capital hole of €280bn (£233bn) and will have to issue €180bn in new equity to plug the gap, analysts at PwC estimated yesterday. The tide of new rules and clarifications around capital requirements, leverage rules and risk weightings is expected to push the requirements to the top of lenders’ agendas. And [...]
Strictly corporate at Square Mile’s ballroom dance-off December 2, 2013 SEVEN glittering couples from the corporate restructuring world battled it out on the Park Lane Hilton hotel’s dancefloor over the weekend, at a strictly (corporate) dancing competition in aid of cancer charities Orchid and the Debbie Fund. This was the second clash of sparkly stilettos organised by R3 – the association for business recovery professionals [...]
Cafe Royal: The life and times of a London institution | City A.M. December 1, 2013 FEW INSITUTIONS can boast a history as rich as this one. Such a louche and libidinous past, with so many stories playing out as some of the greatest figures of modern times drank and (occasionally) dined – scandal, intrigue and ruin just a breath away. And rarely has a place been so studied, conceptualised, remodelled, [...]
Britain’s two nations are continuing to grow ever further apart November 30, 2013 WHEN Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th century Prime Minister, wrote of “two nations, between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy”, he was of course referring to the rich and the poor. But according to a fascinating report from Deutsche Bank, today’s two nations are what it calls the lands that “fall either side of [...]
Germany’s new coalition will make little change to Merkel’s euro policies November 30, 2013 MONTHS after elections were held, Germany’s coalition talks have finally resulted in a deal – a grand coalition between Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU and the centre-left SPD. Already, it is clear that Merkel will remain Europe’s most important player. Following an election that saw her party win a landslide victory that left it only few [...]
Regulator letter warns banks in wake of RBS allegations November 29, 2013 City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FCA) has said that reports earlier this week on the lending practices of RBS have prompted it to write "to all other relevant banks seeking confirmation that they are satisfied they do not engage in any of the poor practices alleged in the reports." Allegations that RBS made a [...]
Bordeaux Index reveals cork-popping champagne sales as economy recovers November 29, 2013 In the first ten months of 2013 wine merchant Bordeaux Index sold over £11m worth of champagne, close to double the amount the sold over same period last year. Champagne made up close to 17 per cent of of the company's total sales in 2013 compared to eight per cent for the same period last [...]