IRB to ponder rule changes November 23, 2009 ENGLAND chiefs insist they would support changes in the rules to make the game safer, following a litany of injuries to Test stars. National team boss Martin Johnson was deprived of a host of regulars ahead of the autumn internationals, while at any one time around a quarter of Premiership players are in the treatment [...]
CITY SPORT AWARDS TO GET LEASE OF NEW LIFE November 23, 2009 SPORT fanatics in the City could be forgiven for wondering when their favourite event of the year is due to come around, now that the party season has entered full swing. But I hear the ICAP Square Mile Sport Awards – which last year saw sporting stars such as cricketer Darren Gough, swimmer Mark Foster, [...]
BLUE-BLOODED CAZENOVE AND THE MYSTERY OF A TRUE ANCIENT RELIC November 19, 2009 BLUE-blooded City stockbroker Cazenove might have officially agreed to surrender the rest of itself to US investment bank JP Morgan, but something tells The Capitalist the die-hards won’t be ready to forget the firm’s noble heritage in a hurry. Lunch yesterday was with a City chum who remembers Caz’s days at its old headquarters in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE?VEXED BY VERIZON STANCEThe chief executive of Vodafone yesterday said that the question of dividend payments from Verizon Wireless, its US joint venture, was one of the most pressing items on the company’s agenda. Speaking at a MorganStanley investor conference in Barcelona, Vittorio Colao said: “We need to solve the US situation.” EUROPEAN [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR £300MHammerson, the UK real estate investment trust, has emerged as the preferred buyer of a £300m shopping mall near Glasgow being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the original owner defaulted on the loan. The UK commercial property market has seen few sales by the larger lending banks, in [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 15, 2009 Berrymans Lace MawerThe law firm has hired Chris Fitton to its professional indemnity team as a partner.Fitton joins from rival Pinsent Masons, where he was also a partner and headed up its Birmingham insurance team. He specialises in resolving professional negligence claims against solicitors and financial intermediaries, with clients including Lloyd’s underwriters, composite insurers, IFAs [...]
The City lawyer who argues that banking has become even riskier November 4, 2009 T o David Morley, the phrase “it is better to travel than to arrive” must sound pretty strange, an expression invented only for those unfortunate souls who have not learnt to move at speed. For Morley, who joined top law firm Allen & Overy in 1980 and has led it as senior partner since last [...]
‘Last year I was the new guy’ November 4, 2009 IF newcomers to the England set-up want advice on how to make an impact at Test level, they could do far worse than speak to Ugo Monye. In the space of 12 months the versatile Harlequins back has gone from uncapped hopeful to a key figure in Martin Johnson’s England side, and a British and [...]
The long arm of US litigation is reaching over the Atlantic October 27, 2009 A COURT case launched in New York this month by shareholders from England, France and the Netherlands against French media company Vivendi, alleging fraud, has struck fear into European executives worried that they too might find themselves on the receiving end of US litigation. It is rare for the American courts to allow foreign shareholders [...]
Be aware of the law if you are setting up on your own October 27, 2009 WHETHER or not the recession has come to an end is still up for debate but it is clear that, for some, the phoenix is already rising from the ashes. The latest stats indicate that the number of new applications for FSA authorisations in London over the last quarter equalled the number of cancellations, so [...]