Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will now renew the attack on capitalism September 26, 2016 You may not have spent your Saturday morning huddled round the TV waiting for the result of the Labour leadership election to be announced, but you probably haven't missed the fact that Jeremy Corbyn saw off his challenger and cemented his position as leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition. Yes, Jeremy’s going nowhere – [...]
Five points the City needs government to heed during Brexit negotiations September 26, 2016 To a huddle of European journalists, Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, claimed that Frankfurt could be attractive and would welcome newcomers. This is of course just the latest marketing attempt by our competing continental financial centres wanting take some of the City’s business. But how does the City respond? We are of course used to [...]
Syria must burn itself out: It is time for the West to do nothing September 26, 2016 (The best policy is) to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions. Lord Salisbury, 1877 In one of the least shocking policy outcomes of the year, the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria did not last the week. Speaking as a longstanding sceptic of intervention there, being right analytically gives me [...]
Moderate Labour is dead: A new party is the only way to fill the vacuum in British politics September 26, 2016 So he won. And, for second time in little over a year, he won pretty convincingly. Members of the Labour Party have made their choice, and they have chosen to be a purist left-wing sect pursuing their own narrow interests rather than a serious party of government. Over the coming weeks, thousands of people will [...]
Brexit advice to brokers: hope for the best, plan for the worst September 23, 2016 It’s three months since the UK voted to leave the EU, and we still don’t know what kind of exit deal, if any, will be agreed. The government can’t seem to make its mind up. Earlier this month we saw the secretary of state for Brexit – David Davis – saying it was unlikely that the UK would [...]
Gender is secondary at Walmsley’s GSK September 23, 2016 If the patient isn't responding, change the medicine: that's been the crude, but long-running, summary of some investors' prescription for Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals group. So for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) investors, the least important aspect of Emma Walmsley's appointment as its next chief executive is her gender. That doesn't make it unimportant, of course: as the global [...]
Megabrew bubbly on ice: City faces nervous wait on SABMiller shareholder vote result September 23, 2016 The drinks could be flowing at SABMiller next week. The FTSE 100-listed beer giant agreed to be acquired by AB InBev last November for £44 per share, or £71bn, in one of the biggest deals of a bumper year for global mergers and acquisitions activity. After years of speculation in the City, the so-called Megabrew [...]
Return on equity for the top global investment banks is falling. Here’s how they’re dealing with it September 23, 2016 Delegates from firms making their way to Geneva next week for the 2016 financial services Sibos conference will undoubtedly have a lot on their minds. Over the past few years the industry has been facing challenges on many fronts: continued and increasing structural costs, fast-changing regulatory reform, conduct issues and capital requirements, to name but [...]
Far from finding it difficult to strike trade deals post-Brexit, the UK is in a prime position. Here’s why September 23, 2016 In the weeks since the referendum there has been much gnashing of the teeth over the UK’s future trade relationship with both the EU and the rest of the world. Much of the negativity expressed by commentators is exaggerated or misguided. The UK remains in a strong position, and can in fact prosper under existing [...]
With two of the worst candidates around, expect reality TV rather than a clash of ideas September 23, 2016 This election may be Hillary Clinton’s to lose, but ever-increasingly it is looking like Donald Trump’s to win. Going into the first debate next Monday, Clinton is still the favourite in the polls. The majority of top pollsters have her hovering over Trump by a few percentage points, and the electoral map still swings in [...]