Casino sale nets Permira $750m August 29, 2012 European private equity firm Permira yesterday raised $750m (£474m) by selling around half of its stake in Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group, sources said. The widely expected deal was Permira’s second sale of Galaxy shares in less than a year. It takes Permira’s total gains to more than 60 per cent on its original [...]
Shawcross in line for charity post August 29, 2012 William Shawcross, the Queen’s official biographer, former journalist and humanitarian, has been named as the preferred candidate to succeed Dame Suzi Leather as boss of the Charity Commission, the Cabinet Office announced yesterday. His candidacy will be assessed on 5 September by the Public Administration Select Committee, who will consider his suitability for the three-year [...]
Regulator plans second wealth manager probe August 29, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority yesterday ramped up its probe into wealth management firms by announcing a second investigation into the investment practices of more firms. The review, which will fall under the auspices of the newly created Financial Conduct Authority when it comes to report next year, follows an initial investigation in June 2011 into [...]
Citi agrees to pay more than $500m over toxic asset claims August 29, 2012 CITIGROUP has reached a $590m (£372.5m) settlement over litigation accusing the bank of fraudulently concealing tens of billions of dollars of exposure to risky collateralised debt obligations (CDO) heading into the global financial meltdown, the banking giant announced yesterday. The settlement is one of the largest arising from the financial crisis. It resolves claims that [...]
Fund lobby group wants retail and investment banks to split August 29, 2012 ASSET managers yesterday called for the government to beef up banking reform plans and consider splitting retail and investment banking operations completely. Trade body the Investment Management Association told a parliamentary commission into banking that the recent scandal over product mis-selling had raised questions over whether ringfencing went far enough. It also called on ministers [...]
Johnson steps up to inherit Fidelity crown August 29, 2012 ABIGAIL Johnson, scion of fund management business Fidelity Investments, yesterday became one of the most powerful women in finance after being made president of Fidelity Financial Services. The firm, founded by her grandfather, is currently headed by her father, Edward Johnson. Abigail Johnson is widely tipped to succeed her father to one day lead the [...]
Drop in number of homes with jobless adults August 29, 2012 THE NUMBER of British households in which no adult is working has fallen to its lowest level since the credit crunch struck in 2007, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday. From April to June the ONS counted 3.67m households with one or more person between the age of 16 and 64 [...]
London housing market booms driving average prices upwards August 29, 2012 LONDON proved yet again to be the driving force behind a continued house price recovery in July, Land Registry data showed yesterday. With prices up 2.7 per cent in July, the London market was behind the overall 0.8 per cent increase seen across England and Wales. Downward pressure came from slipping prices in the north [...]
Cost to comply set for big rise August 29, 2012 COMPLIANCE costs are set to explode under the UK’s incoming regulatory regime, which is planned to come into action in early-to-mid 2013, according to a survey by consultant Protiviti. Half of those polled – all senior compliance professionals at financial services firms – said that their employer’s costs of fulfilling regulators demands would rise by [...]
Public expects inflation to lift August 29, 2012 THE PUBLIC expects inflation to rise over the coming year, before going yet higher in the long term, a YouGov poll of inflation expectations revealed yesterday. The median respondent expected inflation of 2.8 per cent for the year from August, up from 2.4 per cent in June and July, ticking up after last month’s surprise [...]
