Credit Suisse offloads German unit to ABN December 5, 2013 CREDIT Suisse is selling its private banking division in Germany to an ABN Amro subsidiary for an undisclosed price, the company announced today. The Swiss banking giant effectively exits its private banking activities in Germany with the sell-off, but said it will keep on servicing its most wealthy accounts and individuals from the bank’s offices [...]
StanChart says private bank client data stolen December 5, 2013 BANK statements for almost 650 of Standard Chartered’s private banking clients have been found on the laptop of an alleged website hacker in Singapore, the police and the firm said yesterday. Standard Chartered said the February 2013 monthly statements for 647 of its clients were stolen, taken from the server of Fuji Xerox which provides [...]
Stimulus boost aims to balance Japan tax hike December 5, 2013 MINISTERS in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government approved a burst of new stimulus yesterday, launching a package which will run to ¥18.6 trillion (£111.26bn) Most of the deal is made up of spending that is already scheduled, but it includes ¥5.5 trillion of new spending that was announced at the beginning of October to [...]
French unemployment soars to 15-year high as recovery stalls December 5, 2013 THE FRENCH unemployment rate reached the highest level in a decade and a half this autumn, climbing to 10.5 per cent during the third quarter. Joblessness is up 0.1 percentage points from the second quarter, and stands at the highest level France has recorded since 1998. The country now has over 3m people out of [...]
Europe stalls on plan to force audit switching December 5, 2013 NEGOTIATIONS on a European Union draft law forcing companies to switch accountants around once every ten years are on hold due to disagreements over other planned curbs on auditors, according to a British MEP involved in the talks. The law, which goes further than recent changes to UK auditor rules, are meant to boost competition [...]
Apax Partners picks co-leaders after chief quits December 5, 2013 APAX, the private equity firm behind fashion chain New Look, yesterday handed the keys of the company to two rising stars, part of a new breed of young executives leading buyout houses across Europe. Andrew Sillitoe, 41, and Mitch Truwit, 44, have been named co-chief executive officers, taking over from Apax co-founder Martin Halusa who [...]
Dassault takes over 3D brand company RTT December 5, 2013 DASSAULT Systèmes, one of the biggest players in 3D design and printing, yesterday agreed to buy Realtime Technology (RTT), a 3D visual branding company, in an all-cash deal. Munich-based RTT provides 3D visualisation for clients including BMW, GM, Porsche and Lamborghini. Paris-listed Dassault will take an 84 per cent controlling stake in RTT, including its [...]
Veteran boss of UBS funds unit quits chief exec role after 13 years December 5, 2013 UBS ASSET management yesterday reshuffled its boardroom after long-standing chairman and chief executive John Fraser announced his retirement from the frontline. The money manager, which invests more than SFr580bn (£395bn) of other people’s money, said Fraser, 62, will step down as chief executive at the end of this month but stay on as chairman. The [...]
Private equity firms shun big ticket deals for British business December 5, 2013 PRIVATE equity firms’ investment in British businesses fell 30 per cent this year, despite signs of an uptick in the economy Buyout firms spent £13.9bn buying UK firms between January and November, down on the £20.4bn spent in the same period in 2012. The figures, from Mergermarket, reflect a trend for smaller individual deals, given [...]
Flat growth at motion capture firm OMG despite blockbusters December 5, 2013 MOTION capture firm Oxford Metrics Group (OMG), which provides the technology used in Hollywood blockbusters Gravity and World War Z, yesterday reported a loss of £0.4m during the year to 30 September. “As the global economic outlook shows signs of improvement, we enter the year ahead with cautious optimism,” said chief executive Nick Bolton. The [...]