Lloyds prepares for Brexit with Berlin banking licence January 18, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group has secured a banking license for its Berlin subsidiary as the Brexit deadline date approaches. The lender has previously run the office on a standard passporting licence, however all British banks with customers in the EU could lose the licence after March 29 therefore Lloyds is seeking further regulatory approval, Reuters reported. [...]
City law firm Fieldfisher acquires Mayfair boutique in bet on London’s hedge fund sector January 17, 2019 City law firm Fieldfisher has acquired a specialist Mayfair boutique in a bet London’s hedge fund sector will thrive post-Brexit. The City firm has acquired West End boutique Cummings Law and hired two senior partners from rival firms to launch Cummings Fisher, which will specialise in funds, derivatives, financial services regulation and fund formation work. [...]
Blackrock assets under management drop five per cent January 16, 2019 Blackrock’s assets under management dropped five per cent last year as the world’s biggest investment manager saw inflows slashed in half. The manager reported AUM of $5.97 trillion at the end of 2018, down from $6.3 trillion in 2017. Read more: Blackrock and Metro Bank on shortlist for new responsible business award In 2018, full-year total [...]
Aberdeen Standard Investments makes $13m investment in digital insurance company Singapore Life January 15, 2019 Asset management firm Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has announced it will invest $13m (£10.1m) in digital insurance company Singapore Life. The minority equity investment will build on ASI’s existing strategic relationship with the company beyond the management of its fiduciary assets. Singapore Life is the first fully digital insurer in Singapore, and aims to become a [...]
CapitaLand to buy real estate group in Asian mega-deal January 14, 2019 Plans to create Asia’s largest real estate investment manager were revealed today after Singapore’s CapitaLand said it will pay $8bn (£6.2bn) to buy logistics and industrial assets from Temasek. The Singaporean developer is purchasing the holding companies for a combination of cash and stock from the business of the Ascendas-Singbridge Group, which manages Ascendas Real Estate [...]
Hermes Investment Management steps up Dublin presence in no-deal Brexit contingency planning January 14, 2019 Hermes Investment Management has stepped up its presence in Ireland to mitigate against the risks posed by Brexit, the company announced today. The City-headquartered firm has set up an Irish management company, saying its mitigation activities have been based on the presumption of a “hard Brexit” without any transitional arrangements. Read more: 60 per cent [...]
Blackrock announces plans to cut 500 jobs as financial firms come under increasing pressure January 11, 2019 Blackrock is set to cut about three per cent of its 14,900 global workforce, or about 500 employees, as it restructures amid challenging industry conditions. The world's biggest investment group is still profitable on a margin of more than 40 per cent, but suffered a drop in share price of 24 per cent last year [...]
City firms draft in extra staff for crunch Brexit deal vote in preparation for market volatility and investor calls January 11, 2019 The City is bracing itself for next week’s crunch vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal with banks drafting in extra staff to work through the night responding to market volatility and investor calls. MPs will finally vote on the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement on Tuesday after a month's delay, with traders, investors and analysts on [...]
Mifid II launched one year ago and financial brokers are embracing the opportunity January 10, 2019 A year ago, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, commonly referred to as Mifid II, came into force. Arguably the most ambitious and wide-sweeping regulatory reform of the financial services industry in the last decade, it was touted as the death knell of sell-side equity research. Mifid II’s aim was to enhance transparency and [...]
Virgin Money and Aberdeen Standard Investments sign agreement for investment and pensions joint venture January 9, 2019 Virgin Money and Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) have signed an agreement for a new investment and pensions joint venture. ASI will acquire 50 per cent of Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Limited for at least £40m, the companies announced today, and take over the management of its £3.7bn retail assets. The deal, which is designed [...]