CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 4, 2012 Grosvenor Group Michael McLintock has been appointed as a non-executive director of the privately-owned international property group, effective immediately. Chief executive of M&G since 1997, five years after joining the investment firm, McLintock oversaw the sale of M&G to Prudential in 1999 and joined the latter’s board the following year. Already a trustee of the [...]
Qataris fund rollout of 75 City info pods March 4, 2012 THE QATARI Islamic Bank’s British branch, QIB UK, has partnered with on-the-go media firm Renew to fund the rollout of a new round of information pods in the City of London. Since first hitting the streets on 26 January, Renew’s 4.5-feet high pods double as recycling bins and information screens, updating City workers on the [...]
FTSE sees banks up as Greece is saved March 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat this morning and the only significant gainers were banks buoyed by further steps towards saving Greece from the financial abyss. In Wall Street and in Asia nudged up overnight as the European Central Bank’s fresh liquidity injection this week served to warm up investor sentiment. The spotlight is on the [...]
Growth in UK construction raises hopes of economic revival March 2, 2012 Britain’s construction sector grew at the fastest pace in nearly a year in February, boosting hopes that Britain’s economy will recover sooner than expected. Building firms grew more optimistic as order inflow picked up strongly and the headline Markit/CIPS construction Purchasing Managers’ Index published on Friday jumped to 54.3 from 51.4 in January, the highest [...]
Barclays taps ECB FOR £6.8bn March 2, 2012 Barclays said it tapped the European Central Bank (ECB) for 8.2 euros (£6.8bn) at its offer for ultra-cheap long-term funding this week. Barclays did not take any cash at the previous offer in December, and had indicated it had no plans to take any funds. It said on Friday the money would be used to [...]
UK “bad bank” pays back £2.1bn to taxpayer March 2, 2012 Britain’s sixth biggest mortgage provider, the “bad bank” running down the loans of collapsed UK lender Northern Rock, said it repaid £2.1bn to the government last year after its annual profits more than doubled. UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), which is running down the bad loans that were held by Northern Rock and other failed lender [...]
Credit default insurers will not pay out over Greece March 1, 2012 GREECE has not defaulted on its debts after all because the government has negotiated a “voluntary” haircut with investors, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) controversially ruled yesterday. As a result, €3bn (£2.5bn) in insurance contracts taken out against the risk of Greece defaulting will not be paid out, even though bondholders face heavy [...]
Lloyds signs finance chief but job will be left vacant for two months March 1, 2012 LLOYDS Banking Group has clinched new chief financial officer George Culmer, after months of wrangling over his start date and pay package. But the part-nationalised bank will be left without a finance chief for the next two months because Culmer, who stepped down from insurer RSA in November, will not join until the Lloyds shareholder [...]
GM asked to save UK jobs March 1, 2012 VINCE Cable has flown to New York to meet with the leaders of General Motors (GM) and asked them to commit to UK manufacturing. The business secretary met with GM’s chief executive Dan Akerson and corporate strategy vice chairman Stephen Girsky to make the case for continued investment in its British factories. Reports suggest the American firm [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 1, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES STAFF AT JOHN LEWIS BRACED FOR BONUS CUT The John Lewis Partnership is next week expected to announce the first cut in its staff bonus for three years as high street turmoil takes its toll on the employee-owned retailer. Analysts who track the group’s weekly sales figures forecast a pay-out of 12-14 per [...]