The Square Mile and Me: James Ashton on Occupy London, the City’s history, and Balfour’s oysters March 16, 2023 Each week we ask the City’s great and good to delve down memory lane. This week, it’s James Ashton, the chief executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance, representing small- and mid-cap listed firms, and a former newspaper journalist What was your first job in the City? I wrote about advertising and media for Reuters, based [...]
Credit Suisse crisis: Swiss lender taps central bank for emergency £35bn loan backstop March 16, 2023 CREDIT SUISSE overnight announced it would take advantage of a 50bn franc facility offered by the Swiss National Bank after a day in which its stock price sank by 25 per cent. The embattled Swiss lender’s tumble was triggered yesterday morning by comments from its largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, that it would not inject [...]
The Budget: Bring back George Osborne – we need a long-term economic plan March 15, 2023 The Tory benches cheered, the Labour frontbench booed, the SNP reminded us they were there: yes, it was pantomime in Parliament yet again yesterday, with a budget pre-trailed to the point that many of us could have had a stab at announcing it ourselves. What was more interesting was what wasn’t in it: a genuine [...]
Women in Football will ‘probably’ write to Culture Secretary over White Paper diversity concerns March 15, 2023 Campaign group Women in Football says it is likely to raise concerns with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer about the White Paper on football governance. Women in Football director Jane Purdon said the blueprint for an incoming football regulator appeared to have “stripped out all mention of diversity” targets for a sport already lagging behind. “I [...]
World’s top insurers to face aircraft leasers in High Court ‘mega trial’ over planes seized by Russia March 15, 2023 Insurance giants Lloyd’s, AIG and Fidelis are set to face a ‘mega trial’ in London’s High Court over their refusal to pay out billions in insurance claims to aircraft leasers that had their planes seized by President Vladimir Putin. A High Court judge has ruled claims brought forward by an array of the world’s biggest [...]
Oil demand set for huge boost from China with 2023 to end ‘with a bang’, says IEA March 15, 2023 The IEA says oil demand is edging up slowly but is set for a huge boost from resumed air travel and China's economic reopening.
Marshalls boss defends £535m Marley takeover despite tumbling share price and falling profits March 15, 2023 Marshalls boss Martyn Coffey has defended the company’s £535m acquisition of Marley last year despite a hit to profits and share prices.
KPMG stands behind audit of Silicon Valley Bank, accounting firm’s US chief says March 15, 2023 The chief executive of KPMG’s US business has said the Big Four accounting firm stands behind its audit of Silicon Valley Bank, after it gave the California financier a clean bill of health just two weeks before its collapse. KPMG chief Paul Knopp told an event at New York University that “we stand behind the [...]
Budget: OBR says UK to avoid recession and is on course to grow every year after short blip in boost for Jeremy Hunt March 15, 2023 Britain will avoid a much-tipped recession this year and will grow every year until 2027 after a short blip, a massive reversal from economists warning of the longest contraction in a century just a few months ago, the country’s spending watchdog said today. UK GDP is on course to suffer a mild slump in 2023 [...]
Blackrock boss Larry Fink: SVB collapse may signal ‘dominoes are starting to fall’ March 15, 2023 The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could signal the “dominoes are starting to fall” after an abrupt end to the era of low interest rates and cheap money, the boss of the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock has warned. In his annual letter to investors today, Larry Fink said a series of aggressive rate hikes [...]