Goldman Sachs agrees to pay $15m over improper securities lending practices January 14, 2016 Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has agreed a $15m (£10m) settlement with US regulators over charges that its securities lending practices broke regulations. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said broker-dealers such as Goldman Sachs are regularly asked by customers to locate stock for short selling – a process where an asset is borrowed, sold, and [...]
Standard Chartered garners a rare analyst “buy” rating January 14, 2016 Analysts at Berenberg have upgraded their recommendation on troubled emerging markets focused bank Standard Chartered to “buy”, due to a strategy switch to return and risk. Standard Chartered has previously focused on growth alongside fast growing emerging markets. General analyst consensus has been moving against Standard Chartered in recent months, with the latest survey of [...]
European markets dragged down by car makers January 14, 2016 European stock markets lost more ground today. The German Dax closed down 1.67 per cent, lead by a 2.5 per cent drop in Volkswagen shares. It was the lowest close for the main German index since October last year. The French Cac 40 fell 1.8 per cent, with Renault and Peugeot among the top three fallers. [...]
M&C Saatchi share price closes down as management team eyes sale of advertising agency January 14, 2016 M&C Saatchi today revealed that it was in talks to sell a 30 per cent stake in its UK advertising agency, M&C Saatchi UK, to five members of its management team. In a short statement, the company revealed that the five potential purchasers are the advertising agency’s chairman Tim Duffy, chief executive Tom Bazeley, creative [...]
Twitter share price plummets to fresh low for third day in a row as lawsuit claims Twitter helped Isis terrorists January 14, 2016 Twitter shares have hit fresh all-time lows for a third day in a row, plummeting as much as seven per cent in early trading in New York. After touching $18.57 on Wednesday, shares today touched $17.27, the lowest they have ever traded at. They have closed down on every day of 2016 after sliding more than 30 [...]
Oil prices: The £36bn Royal Dutch Shell-BG Group mega-deal has won more support ahead of crucial vote January 14, 2016 Another investor advisory firm has come out in favour of Royal Dutch Shell's £36bn mega-deal with smaller rival BG Group, which goes to a shareholder vote at the end of this month. British shareholder advisory firm PIRC has advised shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. It comes after Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory body, recommended [...]
Is Tesco saved? A small victory for Dave Lewis in the supermarket’s Christmas results, but 2016 remains a challenge January 14, 2016 Tesco reported its best Christmas trading results since Dave Lewis has been at the helm but does this really mean that ‘Drastic Dave’ and his management team can breathe a little easier? The dynamics of grocery shopping has changed with value and convenience the two biggest factors for consumers. Competition has never been fiercer so it would [...]
BT’s EE takeover set to get a green light from Competition and Markets Authority January 14, 2016 BT’s £12.5bn takeover of rival EE is expected to get a thumbs up by the UK’s competition watchdog as the two prepare to merge in March. Anything other than a green light would be highly unexpected as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prepares to announce its final decision on the deal at 7am tomorrow, [...]
Tourism stocks tumble in the wake of the Jakarta attacks as the share prices of EasyJet, InterContinental Hotels, Tui and IAG fall January 14, 2016 The FTSE 100 index traded lower this morning as attacks in the Indonesian capital weighed on tourism stocks. This morning a series of bomb blasts hit Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, followed by gunfire, reported to have killed at least seven people. In the aftermath of the blasts, Jakarta police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said five attackers and two other [...]
FTSE 100 index falters as the price of oil slides January 14, 2016 The FTSE 100 index opened down this morning as the price of oil continued to linger around $30 a barrel. The UK's blue-chip index opened 1.68 per cent down at 5,860 points. "For the first time this year the FTSE 100 managed to post two positive days in a row yesterday, buoyed by a rebound in [...]