As finance changes graduates look to risk-management May 13, 2009 LOOKING back a couple of years, it seems as though ignoring risk had practically become a sport among those who drove the banking boom. So much for hindsight – but it was a failure of foresight that contributed to the financial catastrophes of last year. Foresight in the financial industry is the job of risk [...]
Third day of red as miners and banks lose their appeal May 13, 2009 THE FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 per cent yesterday, succumbing to disappointing US retail sales figures, profit-taking in the banking sector and mining stocks weighed down by weak commodity prices. The index retreated for the third day in a row, closing at 4,331.37, or 94.17 points down. “Despite the change of tone, markets have more room [...]
Barclays bounces back to lead the market rally May 13, 2009 BARCLAYS is sitting pretty at the top of the UK’s rebounding stocks over the last three months, new figures from Motley Fool (Fool.co.uk) showed yesterday. The bank’s share price has soared from 61p on 9 March to 281p as of Monday’s closing price, a gain of 360 per cent, as UK lenders began to claw [...]
MBIA faces legal battle May 13, 2009 Barclays and HSBC are among 18 or more of the world’s largest financial institutions that yesterday started legal action against MBIA, the bond insurer, claiming its recent split into a good and bad business wrongfully cut their odds of getting paid out on policies. The banks filed their complaint in a New York State Supreme [...]
Mayor calls on business expertise December 8, 2008 London mayor Boris Johnson has recruited the help of 47 top-flight business leaders to offer him guidance and advice, it was announced yesterday. The International Business Advisory Council for London has been set up and will be chaired by Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising group WPP. The council will advise the mayor on [...]
Dresdner sale gets interest of UK broker September 4, 2008 British broker Collins Stewart is circling Dresdner Kleinwort, after Commerzbank admitted it would shrink the investment bank as part of its €9.8bn (£7.9bn) deal for fellow German bank Dresdner. Collins Stewart, itself the subject of a takeover approach from Japanese group Nomura Holdings, is thought to be eyeing several Dresdner Kleinwort businesses, including its advisory [...]
Going short is not necessarily the answer September 2, 2008 A medium or long term approach may be wisest just now, says Katie Hope Its’ like a grim version of “when I were a lad…” working in the City at the moment. Everyone’s trying to out-do themselves in describing just how bad things have got. Going to school barefoot barely makes the grade in terms [...]
Atticus sees £2.7bn losses as downturn hits it hard September 2, 2008 Atticus, the high-profile New York hedge fund involved in the failed Barclays bid for ABN-Amro, has lost more than $5bn (£2.8bn) this year after its funds were battered by steep falls in financial stocks. The activist fund saw assets under management fall to around $14bn at the end of July, down from $20m last year [...]
TNS rebuffs WPP despite GfK walk out August 28, 2008 Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofre said it would continue to fight WPP’s hostile bid even after its preferred bidder GfK walked away from a takeover deal yesterday because it could not raise enough cash. German GfK had been trying to raise financing with private equity groups and wealth investors to launch a rival takeover [...]
China’s PBC builds stake in Prudential August 26, 2008 Prudential has poured cold water on suggestions that it should spin off its Asian arm into a separate company, as it emerged that the People’s Bank of China has built up a one per cent stake in the UK’s second-largest insurer. Chief executive Mark Tucker has fought an ongoing battle on two fronts to convince [...]