Zurich insurance’s finance chief found dead August 26, 2013 ZURICH Insurance Group said yesterday that its chief financial officer (CFO), Pierre Wauthier, had been found dead at his home. The Swiss insurer said that police were investigating the circumstances of Wauthier’s death, and that no further details had been disclosed. Group controller Vibhu Sharma will replace him as CFO on an interim basis.
ING sells Asian insurance unit in £1.06bn deal August 26, 2013 ING Groep edged closer to completing its year-and-a-half-old Asia divestment plan after private equity firm MBK Partners agreed to buy its South Korean insurance unit for total cash proceeds of 1.84 trillion won (£1.06bn). Under the agreement announced yesterday, the bailed-out Dutch insurer will retain about a 10 per cent stake in the South Korean [...]
Overseas posts in demand but grads shun emerging markets August 26, 2013 MOVING abroad for work is becoming more common, a survey out today shows – but globe-trotting graduates are reluctant to move to emerging markets. A poll of 900 global firms found that the average firm had around 250 employees on international assignments in 2009, up from 200 in 1998. PwC expects this to rise to around [...]
Finance chiefs see pay surge August 26, 2013 SALARIES of finance directors of UK-listed companies increased by an inflation-busting 4.7 per cent in the last year, according to research from Income Data Services (IDS). The IDS study shows that finance directors of FTSE 100 companies now earn an average of £1.7m per year, including salary, bonuses, share option profits and incentive payments. AIM-listed [...]
Islamic finance body in bond debut August 26, 2013 A consortium of central banks from Asia, the Middle East and Africa yesterday took its first step towards developing a cross-border market in Islamic financial instruments by issuing a $490m (£314.5m) sukuk. The three-month Islamic bonds, denominated in US dollars, were issued by the Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM). This IILM was founded [...]
3D printer firms get broker boost August 26, 2013 US-listed 3D printing firms 3D Systems and Stratasys both received a boost yesterday after a positive note from Citigroup analyst Kenneth Wong. In the note, Wong predicted that the 3D printing market could triple within the next five years. “We also expect to see increased utilisation of existing systems as customers start to extend use [...]
Fake celebrities cause chaos in Thames PR stunt August 26, 2013 A PUBLIC relations stunt on The Thames went awry last week, riverside City spies tell The Capitalist. Sightseeing company City Cruises launched its Thamesjet experience on the river, and to mark the occasion hired a group of celebrity lookalikes, including Daniel Craig, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger to pose on one of its [...]
Back to school blues: Carney’s wife tackles green stationery August 26, 2013 IT appears Bank of England governor’s wife Diana Carney has more in common with Samantha Cameron than marriage to a high-powered leader in Britain, judging by her latest blog. Diana would surely have plenty to chat about with Samantha – former creative director of high end stationer Smythson – after revealing she is obsessed with [...]
Investec boss basks in England Ashes win August 26, 2013 Managing director of Investec bank Bernard Kantor joined in the Ashes celebrations – pictured here with the winning England team at the Oval.
Telefonica nears deal for KPN as sweetens offer August 26, 2013 TELEFONICA has raised its bid for KPN’s German arm by six per cent to €8.55bn (£7.32bn), winning over top KPN investor America Movil and setting the stage for consolidation in Europe’s largest mobile market. The Spanish telecoms group’s original deal to buy KPN’s E-Plus unit was thrown into doubt earlier this month when Mexican billionaire [...]