Aviva to list in New York October 7, 2009 INSURANCE giant Aviva has announced plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange as it embarks on a drive to raise its profile in the US. The company, the world’s fifth-largest insurer by gross premiums, said it would begin trading on 20 October, just days after it said it would launch a partial initial [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 4, 2009 ForestersThe friendly society has hired industry heavyweight Graham Berville to the board as a non-executive director. Berville was formerly director of the Association of Friendly Societies and chairman of the Association of Mutual Insurers, as well as a member and chairman of various Association of British Insurers (ABI) committees. Prior to joining Foresters, he spent [...]
Legal &General buyout talk continues to dominate FTSE October 1, 2009 TALK that blue chip insurer Legal & General is to be a target for Clive Cowdery’s Resolution buyout vehicle continued yesterday. Traders were saying that L&Ghas already been approached by Cowdery, despite the fact his buyout vehicle is currently in a closed period ahead of its merger with rival insurer Friends Provident. But City A.M. [...]
Lloyd’s profits up 39pc amid bond rebound September 24, 2009 LLOYD’S of London, the City’s 321-year old insurance market, yesterday unveiled bumper first-half profits after a recovery in corporate bond markets helped boost returns on its investment portfolio. Chief executive Richard Ward said the market had booked profits of £1.32bn during the first six months of the year – a 39 per cent rise on [...]
Sandler joins Pearl as chair September 24, 2009 PEARL, the insurer founded by pubs-to-pizza entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, has confirmed Northern Rock head Ron Sandler is joining as chairman. The group has taken on Sandler ahead of its planned secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter. Sandler was put in charge of failed mortgage lender Northern Rock after it became [...]
CITY VIEWS: Is ba’s pledge to cut the aviation industry’s carbon emissions enough? or should we just fly less? September 22, 2009 IAN SEAKENS LLOYD’S OF LONDON“The aviation industry is doing the very least it can possibly get away with to combat carbon emissions. It’s a tough time for airlines, margins are squeezed, and this is the last thing companies want to be spending out on.” DON OKOLIE ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES“Willie Walsh’s pledge to cut emissions by [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 21, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VINCI CHIEF DOWNBEAT ON SECTOREurope’s construction market is likely to fall further next year, despite billions injected by governments in stimulus plans and emerging signs of recovery in the region’s two largest economies, Xavier Huillard, chief executive of Vinci, has warned. In an interview with the FT, Mr Huillard warned of further pain [...]
Bank on Green’s for top-notch nosh September 21, 2009 Green’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar14 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NDTel: 020 7220 6300FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £35 THERE are precious few dinings rooms in the City with the “cor blimey” factor, so the news that a new restaurant was opening in the old Lloyds Banking Hall set us nodding like the dog on the Churchill [...]
DAREDEVIL CHIEF ROLET BRINGS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO FUSTY LSE September 17, 2009 XAVIER Rolet is certainly freshening things up over at the London Stock Exchange. The exchange’s new boss has been busy over the past few weeks, having shaken up the LSE’s marketing team, struck a deal to replace its IT provider and got rid of its trusted PR adviser Finsbury (the super-spinner and its arch-rival Brunswick [...]
Google’s printing deal is revolutionary September 17, 2009 GOOGLE has come in for a lot of flak from publishers, some of it justified. But if you want to understand why it remains an exceptional company, there is no better place to start than with its latest deal. Over the last seven years, Google has scanned 2m out-of-print books from libraries and made them [...]