Advisers on London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse deal could rake in up to £305m February 7, 2017 The London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse could pay up to £305m between them to bankers, lawyers, accountants and PRs working on their merger. The top-end estimate was revised up today from £234m in light of an extended probe by the European Commission into the deal. Credit Suisse analysts noted today: We believe merger related [...]
11 things we learned from Sajid Javid’s speech on the housing white paper February 7, 2017 Communities secretary Sajid Javid stood in the House of Commons today to unveil the government's long-awaited housing white paper, so what did we learn about the government's plans to fix the housing crisis? Well, not much. The speech was pretty vague. Javid said the government would be speeding up construction, encouraging institutional investment in the rental sector and [...]
Six traders from Deutsche Bank and Barclays plead not guilty to Euribor rigging February 7, 2017 Six traders pleaded not guilty to Euribor-rigging offences in a London court today, as part of the first case focusing on the Brussels-based benchmark brought by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The traders in question are Christian Bittar, 45, a former employee of Deutsche Bank, Achim Kraemer, 52, who still works for Deutsche Bank, and four ex-Barclays [...]
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas is set to be the latest Canadian firm to list on London’s junior market February 7, 2017 Tomorrow, Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas is set to be the second Canadian energy firm to list on London's Alternative Investment Market (Aim) in a month. The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company holds Atlantic licences offshore Guyana and Namibia, and said it raised £5m after originally aiming for around £2m to £3m in funds it will use to push ahead [...]
Arrivederci: Barclays ditches more of its Italian non-core assets February 7, 2017 Barclays today announced it has agreed to sell of more of its non-core assets in Italy. The banking giant revealed it would be selling a portfolio of non-core performing and non-performing small business and corporate loans to AnaCap Financial Partners, but did not disclose a sale price. The portfolio, which has a book value of roughly €177m (£152.7m) [...]
Premium Bonds just lost some of their shine, as NS&I slashes rates on four of its key products February 7, 2017 Lady Luck was not on the side of Premium Bond holders this morning, after National Savings & Investments (NS&I) revealed it was slashing rates on four of its products. Along with cutting the prize fund rate for Premium Bonds, NS&I will be lowering the interest rate on its Direct Isa, Direct Saver and Income Bonds [...]
New Look suffers “disappointing” sales drop during crucial Christmas shopping period February 7, 2017 New Look did not have a very merry Christmas, failing to bag a sales boost during the most important period of the year for retailers. The figures New Look said group like-for-like sales fell 4.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 24 December, with sales in the UK down 4.7 per cent on the same [...]
What did Parliament decide on Article 50 and Brexit last night? And what will they discuss today? February 7, 2017 The government last night defeated four amendments to the Article 50 Bill, but with debate today kicking off around lunchtime, what's the state of play in the House of Commons? Today's Debates This afternoon will be focused on two different categories of amendments. Firstly the Commons will discuss tweaks to an offer of a vote on [...]
Lloyds Banking Group vows to review cases of customers caught up in HBOS fraud, after two ex-bankers jailed February 7, 2017 Lloyds Banking Group today pledged to review the cases of customers who could have been caught up in a fraudulent scheme linked to two former HBOS employees. Last week, two ex-HBOS bankers were among six people jailed for their roles in a ruse to drive small businesses into the ground for their own personal gain, running up [...]