DO YOU EXPECT THERE TO BE A DOUBLE-DIP IN THE UK HOUSING MARKET? July 18, 2010 IVOR DICKINSON | DOUGLAS & GORDON “Supply of property in London has been rising steadily since January as vendors try to take advantage of rising prices. And demand has remained consistent and we now have almost three buyers for every property. With the market in relative utopia, we are not expecting a double dip.” LUCIAN [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 18, 2010 Artemis Investment Management The fund management group has hired Giles Parkinson as a new investment analyst, tasked with supporting William Littlewood in managing the £567m Artemis Strategic Assets Fund, launched by the firm just over a year ago. Parkinson joins from Newton Investment Management, where he has been a research analyst for the past four [...]
UK insolvency down as business picks up July 18, 2010 INDICATIONS that the UK’s business community is starting to stabilise have come from new data that shows the number of company insolvencies in June has declined by more than 13 per cent from last year. Information from data services group Experian shows that 1,771 UK businesses failed last month down from the 2,044 that became [...]
Finance sector must highlight its contribution July 18, 2010 AT a time when spending cuts, tax increases and unemployment dominate the headlines, leaders of the UK financial services industry face an unprecedented challenge getting their message across to the public and politicians. Of course, we must recognise the real anger that continues to exist as a result of the mistakes made – not only [...]
Water firms get £3.4bn EU loans July 18, 2010 The EU plans to lend the UK’s 10 biggest water utilities €4bn (£3.4bn) over the next five years, as they try to reduce the number of customers who cannot pay their bills. UK water companies including United Utilities and Severn Trent can take out cheap loans from the European Investment Bank to help reduce “water [...]
Donations drop by nearly 10 pc July 18, 2010 The austerity mindset has dented charitable donations this year, says research by Investec. Hard-up workers are giving 9.6 per cent less than a year ago, with almost a quarter admitting to reducing their donations. Londoners have dropped their donations by 9.2 per cent. People aged 34 to 44 are most reluctant to part with their [...]
SUMMER’S SET TO SIZZLE AS CITY’S GOT TALENT MAKES A COMEBACK July 18, 2010 IT’S SUMMERTIME, and if you’re looking for a ray of sunshine to penetrate the daily grind of City life, look no further. Regular readers of this column will remember last year, when The Capitalist whipped the financial world into a frenzy with a rundown of the top ten hunkiest gentlemen and loveliest ladies the City [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK July 18, 2010 IT’S OFF the beaten track for this week’s bill, racked up by six businessmen celebrating a deal with a short but sweet trip to Malta’s luxury boutique hotel The Xara Palace – frequented by famous faces such as Brad Pitt and Roger Moore. Our lucky travellers headed to the hotel’s award-winning De Mondion restaurant, where [...]
HISTORIC FINANCIAL REFORM BILL PASSED July 15, 2010 US LAWMAKERS last night passed a landmark financial reform bill allowing the broadest overhaul of rules governing America’s largest financial institutions since the 1930s. The Senate approved the bill by a 60 to 39 vote last night and will now send it to President Barack Obama to sign into law next week. The bill, which [...]
Obama’s reforms at a glance July 15, 2010 SYSTEMIC RISK A council of regulators chaired by the secretary of the Treasury would be created to monitor big-picture risks in the financial system. The Financial Stability Oversight Council could identify firms that threaten stability and subject them to tighter oversight by the Federal Reserve. The Fed and the council could break up firms that [...]