Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management announce merger plans March 6, 2017 Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management have agreed terms of a recommended all-share merger. The firms announced the plans to the Stock Exchange this morning, confirming reports of a deal over the weekend. Shares in Standard Life jumped nine per cent at the open, while Aberdeen's stock was up six per cent. Aberdeen shareholders will [...]
Monzo and Revolut cardholders can’t use their cards and might not for the rest of the day due to supplier issues March 6, 2017 Monzo cardholders are unable to use the digital challenger bank to make payments or send money and might not be able to for the rest of the day. In a notification sent to customers, the startup said there have been issues since just before 10 am on Sunday morning due to one of its suppliers [...]
Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre: My brand was “dropped like a pair of dirty knickers” March 6, 2017 Agent Provocateur co-founder Joe Corre has branded the £30m sale of the lingerie retailer “a scandal on many levels”. Corre, the son of iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, said his brand was “dropped like a pair of dirty knickers”. Agent Provocateur was put up for sale by 3i in January. Last week, administrators Alix Partners sold the [...]
Brexit, Isis and attracting entrepreneurs: Just some of the challenges faced by mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge March 6, 2017 Private equity firm Livingbridge will likely be tied to its former name, Isis Equity Partners, for some time to come. In 2014, shortly before turning 20 years old, Isis chose to change its name in light of the rising prominence of its namesake terrorist organisation. “It was kind of fine [prior to 2014],” says Wol [...]
Peugeot and Citroen owner PSA agrees €2.2bn deal to buy European operations of Vauxhall owner March 6, 2017 PSA, the firm that owns Peugeot and Citroen, has agreed a deal to buy rival the European operations of Vauxhall's European parent General Motors. A press conference has been scheduled in Paris today with more details on the merger valued at €2.2bn (£1.9bn) to be revealed. Read more: PSA will honour commitments to Vauxhall plants [...]
Chinese insurance regulators plan to relax rules, giving larger firms the green light to restart overseas investment March 6, 2017 Chinese insurance watchdogs are planning a regulatory shake-up that will reboot larger firms’ ability to expand overseas. Discussions are being held over changing the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) from a single body to a tailored framework that takes into account a number of facets of insurers including size, solvency ratios and risk tolerance, sources [...]
HMRC gets tough on finance directors at big firms March 6, 2017 British tax authorities are clamping down hard on failures in tax accounting from top executives, with penalties against finance directors rising steeply to record highs. Finance directors at large businesses have seen a 17 per cent year-on-year rise in actions under the senior accounting officer regime, according to law firm Pinsent Masons. Revenue and Customs [...]
Ever the pragmatist, chancellor Philip Hammond is right to be bullish on Brexit March 6, 2017 Philip Hammond isn’t known as Westminster’s most exciting MP. He lacks the bombast of a Boris Johnson or the polished ambition of a George Osborne. And yet, he has emerged as one of the most respected figures of the post-referendum government, with many City figures viewing him as “the grownup in the room”. Having backed [...]
More KPMG partners follow Richard Fleming to Alvarez & Marsal in a bid to break the Big Four’s stranglehold March 6, 2017 One year has passed since KPMG big-hitter Richard Fleming shocked the City by walking out on the consultancy giant. Fleming officially joins rival Alvarez & Marsal this month. The firm moved for him and two other partners in early 2016 after KPMG rejected a bid from Alvarez & Marsal for the Big Four giant’s restructuring business. Today, the [...]
Italy’s dying elite is dragging the Eurozone ever closer towards the abyss March 6, 2017 Venice – The great German novelist Thomas Mann once rightly described this bejewelled city as one of “flattering and suspect beauty, half fairy tale and half tourist trap”. The same can be said for the country of Italy as a whole, where things are rarely as they seem. For the problem with political soap operas [...]