RBS’ Williams & Glyn trade sale (or IPO) to kick-start next year December 16, 2015 Santander UK or Virgin Money could be planning to buy the Williams & Glyn business from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) after the taxpayer backed bank said it would begin the sale process in the first half of next year. There has been no formal offer made for Williams & Glyn by either UK challenger, which [...]
Domino’s takes a slice of the German pizza market with $86m deal to buy Joey’s Pizza December 16, 2015 Germany's largest pizza chain, Joey's Pizza, is being bought jointly by the owners of Domino's Pizza in Australia and the UK. London-listed Domino's Pizza Group and Sydney-listed Domino's Pizza Enterprises are entering into a deal worth an estimated $86m (£57.2m). Germany has the fourth largest pizza market in the world, and taking ownership of Joey's [...]
Americans bring Thanksgiving to UK retailers as spending soars December 16, 2015 Black Friday’s online bargain frenzy may have dampened sales on the high street. But international shoppers helped to keep tills ringing, with spending up by 10 per cent in the year to November. The biggest jump in spending came from US tourists, up 55 per cent, despite still accounting for just five per cent of [...]
City Moves for 16 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 15, 2015 DOLLAR UK Steve Dukes has been appointed by consumer finance company Dollar UK as its new chief product development officer, reporting directly to chief executive Stuart Howard. Steve joins from Wonga where he was vice president of customer proposition. GFT UK GFT, a provider of business, design and technology consulting to the investment banking community, [...]
Domino’s Pizza Group forms venture with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises to buy Germany’s biggest operator Joey’s Pizza December 15, 2015 Domino’s is getting a slice of the German pizza business. The London-listed pizza company has formed a joint venture to buy Joey’s Pizza, Germany’s largest pizza delivery firm, in a deal worth €79m (£57.6m). To buy the German company, Domino’s Pizza Group formed a joint venture with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises. Domino’s Pizza Group will own [...]
Interest rates, junk bonds and safe-havens: What investors should look out for in 2016 December 15, 2015 This year has been full of surprises for investors – from the Swiss National Bank's shock abandonment of its currency ceiling, to the financial market turmoil which came out of China's "Black Friday". So what should market mavens look out for in 2016? Interest rates will diverge The long-awaited interest rate rise looks some way [...]
MPs pile pressure on the accounting watchdog and KPMG over HBOS failures December 15, 2015 An influential group of MPs have renewed calls for the accounting industry watchdog to investigate KPMG’s role in the collapse of HBOS. Steve Baker MP, a member of the Treasury select committee, called the auditing of banks by accountancy firms around 2008 “the great uncovered scandal of the financial crisis”. In last month’s report into [...]
StanChart slims its oil and gas advisory banking team as Bill Winters makes cost cuts December 15, 2015 Standard Chartered has axed around six oil and gas advisory banking roles recently, as its new chief executive Bill Winters powers ahead with his cost-cutting plan. The senior managing directors to leave the bank include the London-based head of the energy mergers and acquisitions team, three sources told Reuters. Four Singapore-based managing directors in the [...]
Top regulator Andrew Bailey writes to challenger banks over Basel Committee buy-to-let capital requirement proposals December 15, 2015 A top City regulator has taken new steps to reassure Britain’s challenger banks about capital requirements ahead of a meeting today between bank bosses and Treasury officials. In a letter sent to challenger bank bosses today, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) chief executive Andrew Bailey said that smaller lenders should not be overly worried about the [...]
Nurofen advertising being investigated by Advertising Standards Authority over claims in Nurofen Express advert December 15, 2015 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed yesterday that they are investigating advertising for Nurofen, which is owned by Reckitt Benckiser, on the grounds some claims could have misled consumers. The UK's advertising watchdog has said it is following up on 12 complaints about a television advert for Nurofen Express, examining whether the advert was misleading because it implied the [...]