RSA offloads Canadian arm May 19, 2014 RSA ANNOUNCED the sale of its Canadian insurance brokerage last night, confirming a deal that will raise 441m Canadian dollars (£241.4m) for the group as part of a broader offloading. The group’s sale of Noraxis Capital to Arthur J Gallagher means that RSA has raised about £540m from sales announced since February. Chief executive Stephen Hester [...]
Facebook deal with Publicis May 19, 2014 FRENCH advertising agency Publicis and Facebook have struck a multi-year digital marketing deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal will focus on video adverts on Facebook, as well as on Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing app owned by Facebook, according to the source, who spoke on [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 May 2014 May 19, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES EU banks face debt sale clampdown European regulators are seeking to clamp down on the sale of debt by banks to their own retail customers, amid fears savers do not realise the risks posed by such assets. The European Banking Authority is concerned about the sale of bank debt that could be bailed [...]
Former telecoms finance boss moves to StanChart May 19, 2014 STANDARD Chartered announced yesterday that former Vodafone chief financial officer (CFO) Andy Halford is set to become group finance director at the bank. Halford steps into Richard Meddings’ place at the end of June – the former finance boss announced that he was leaving in January, when the reorganisation of the wholesale and consumer banking [...]
Amanda James joins FTSE female top execs after Next promotion May 19, 2014 NEXT has promoted the finance boss of its retail division Amanda James to group finance director after announcing yesterday that David Keens is to stand down. Keens, who has held the post for 23 years and who has been at Next for 28 years overall, will retire from the group shortly after its full-year results [...]
Ben Reid checks out of Co-op Group after vote for reforms May 19, 2014 VETERAN Co-op Group board member Ben Reid announced his resignation yesterday, leaving the firm after a turbulent year and 14 years on the board in total. The Co-op offered no comment on the move other than that Reid was stepping down, but people familiar with the situation suggested that Reid’s departure had long been on [...]
Ex-boss of the stock exchange to join Vodafone board as non-exec May 19, 2014 FORMER London Stock Exchange (LSE) chief executive Dame Clara Furse has been snapped up by Vodafone, and will take a non-executive position on its board. The firm announced yesterday that Furse, who headed up the LSE for eight years, will also become a member of Vodafone’s audit and risk committee. The appointments begin in September this [...]
Banks set to get report cards on their reputation May 19, 2014 BRITAIN’S banks are set to establish a new independent watchdog that will publish yearly updates on how much the public trusts them. Sir Richard Lambert, in his latest report on restoring public faith in the industry, yesterday called on all banks to sign up to his proposed Banking Standards Review Council. The six retail banks [...]
Saga customers get float off to a healthy start May 19, 2014 SAGA customers have subscribed for enough shares in the insurance to holidays group to cover the £500m of new money it hopes to raise in its upcoming flotation. Books for the retail element of the deal do not close until tonight but already bankers have been reporting healthy interest. Institutional investors will be able to [...]
UK businesses uneasy about future of Europe May 19, 2014 BUSINESSES in the UK are growing increasingly wary of the Prime Minister’s strategy on European renegotiation, new research has found. According to a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), 54 per cent of businesses said they would back David Cameron’s plan to reform the relationship between the UK and the EU. But 19 [...]