Credit Suisse in profit despite £1bn debt fee April 25, 2012 A RETURN to profitability for its investment bank helped Credit Suisse to narrowly avoid a loss in its first quarter despite a SFr1.5bn (£1bn) accounting charge on its own debt. The Swiss bank yesterday posted a net profit of SFr44m – a 96 per cent fall from SFr1.13bn last year – but a marked turnaround [...]
Dougan simply can’t afford to rest on his laurels April 25, 2012 MORE than ever before, banks must be wishing they could simply play their first-quarter performances on repeat. Judging by business activity so far this year, Credit Suisse is now delivering returns comfortably within its target range, having booked a return on equity of 15.9 per cent during the first quarter of this year – once [...]
Canopius finally gets the nod on a £164m offer for Omega April 25, 2012 LLOYDS of London insurer Canopius said it had agreed to buy rival Lloyd’s insurer Omega after raising its offer to £164m in a recommended cash deal, thereby putting to an end a near 16 month process. Canopius said it will pay 67p per share, increasing an offer it made earlier in April by 2p per [...]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch fights back in talent stakes April 25, 2012 BANK of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) took the first step towards replenishing talent for its European investment bank yesterday, poaching one of the City’s most senior bankers to be president of Europe and Emerging Markets, and recruiting one of its former charges to co-head its UK corporate broking team. After a period during which the [...]
PROFILE: ALEX WILMOT-SITWELL April 25, 2012 Alex Wilmot-Sitwell is a household name in the City of London. He was born in 1961, the son of Peter, a former SG Warburg chairman. SG Warburg may have disappeared as a brand after the firm’s acquisition by Swiss bank UBS, but through Alex’s efforts the Wilmot-Sitwell name has been more enduring in the world of [...]
Goldman’s tax bill unveiled as Blankfein talks April 25, 2012 GOLDMAN Sachs has put aside $684m (£424m) for its 2011 UK tax bill, two thirds more than it has budgeted for the previous year, it was revealed yesterday as chief executive Lloyd Blankfein spoke out to defend the banks’ corporate culture. Although the bank has so far only paid over $6.6m to the exchequer for [...]
WILL STANDARD LIFE’S SHARE PRICE GO UP DURING 2012? April 25, 2012 BARRIE CORNES PANMURE GORDON The market remains challenging but the company is probably one of the best equipped in terms of the challenges posed by the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review later this year. HOLD. KEVIN RYAN INVESTEC The star was the core UK business which was nine per cent down at £3.6bn. We [...]
Standard Life helped by UK pension sales April 25, 2012 INSURER Standard Life yesterday announced a smaller than expected drop in revenues, assisted by strong British pension sales. The Edinburgh-based firm said new business sales hit £5bn for the first quarter of 2012, down from £5.8bn in the same period last year but ahead of expectations. “We had indicated to the market that the lack of [...]
Solicitor loses appeal over retirement age April 25, 2012 EMPLOYERS can force the retirement of older staff if they are able to prove it is in the interests of the wider workforce, according to a landmark Supreme Court ruling yesterday. Five judges rejected an appeal by Leslie Seldon, a former partner at a Kent law firm, who had claimed he suffered age discrimination when [...]
Tobin tax could hit the City even if UK does not introduce one April 25, 2012 BRUSSELS is stepping up its efforts to find ways of hitting the City with a Tobin tax even if UK does not consent to impose one itself. If adopted, the measures could amount to a tax grab on the City worth hundreds of billions of pounds. A committee of European Parliament members says it has [...]