City Moves for 27 March 2016 | Who’s switching jobs April 27, 2016 Saxo Bank Saxo Bank, the trading and investment specialist, has appointed Jeff Zorek as chief operating officer of global sales based in London and reporting to Matteo Cassina, global head of sales. Jeff joins Saxo with over 30 years of financial services experience, managing businesses in securities trading, high-speed electronic execution, risk management, clearance, settlement and [...]
All aboard! The banking rollercoaster ride is here April 27, 2016 The UK’s banks have been on a rollercoaster ride since the dark days of the credit crunch in 2008, from PPI mis-selling to Libor and the Forex scandal. Recent woes include market volatility, capital buffers and low interest rates depressing margins. As first quarter reporting season kicks off with Barclays today, some good news at [...]
Forget vacuums and hand dryers: The Dyson product might just blow away a whole industry April 27, 2016 It's been four years and £50m in the making, but Dyson's new product just blew in: this time, entrepreneur James Dyson is taking on the beauty market. Yes, fresh from such innovations as the world's first self-righting vacuum cleaner, the company has decided to tackle something altogether more personal: the hairdryer. And naturally, given the company's [...]
US Presidential Election 2016: Clinton vs Trump – whose economic policy is better for markets? April 27, 2016 It is a momentous time in terms of geopolitics. A plethora of major events with potentially significant investment consequences will take place this year. They range from the Brexit hurricane in the UK, to tectonic shifts in the oil economy abroad. Even ostensibly local conflagrations, such as political deadlock in Brazil, may impact wider markets. But [...]
Why you need to be far more careful when making notes April 27, 2016 Of all the information your colleagues shared with you yesterday, how much do you remember? What happens to the rest? There is a limit to what we can take in. Our brains cannot store, let alone process, all the facts that cross our path on an average working day. If the information is in a document [...]
Why Brexit could spell trouble for Berkeley Group if foreign investors abandon London April 27, 2016 Berkeley Homes produces some of the most desirable goods in the UK. Building high-end houses and apartments chiefly in London, this well-managed company has delivered impressive profit margins and sustained growth. To explain this success, many would point to London’s chronic housing shortage. Annual demand is typically estimated at 50,000 homes by industry commentators. In [...]
Is Sir Philip Green being unfairly criticised over the collapse of BHS – and its £571m pensions black hole? April 27, 2016 Tim Worstall, senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. It’s not difficult to believe that Sir Philip Green is being unfairly treated over the BHS saga. The unedifying sight of the British establishment sneering at the loudmouth Jew in the clothing trade is an unwelcome return to social habits we rather hoped we had [...]
EU referendum: Businesses defend free movement and issue warning on Brexit April 27, 2016 Restrictions on EU migrants would cause long-term damage to a number of UK businesses, a new report has said, as employers claimed Brexit could stifle their ability to grow. Firms in the construction, hospitality, and food and drink sectors told the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) that they struggled to hire British workers [...]
Regular home buyers feel the squeeze as investors and second home buyers storm London property market April 27, 2016 Fewer than half of all homes sold in central London over the last three months went to regular homeowners, a new report has shown, casting a light on the extent of the housing crisis in the capital. Buy to let landlords accounted for 36 per cent of property transactions during the first three months of [...]
MPs urge government to do more to cut taxpayer costs for EU penalties April 27, 2016 A group of MPs has today criticised the government for not doing enough to shield taxpayers from fines paid to the European Commission. The report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that government had been hit with at least £650m in penalties over the last decade for spending EU funds improperly. "Government inaction on [...]