CITY VIEWS IS KEN LIVINGSTONE A HYPOCRITE FOR USING PRIVATE HEALTHCARE? April 19, 2012 MARTIN CAMB RESOLUTE MANAGEMENT It is a bit of a double standard for a politician who is campaigning for the NHS not to use it, but I think it’s fine for a person to use private healthcare if it’s available to them. ELEANOR RICHARDSON DAC BEACHCROFT Yes. It’s always a difficult decision but I think [...]
IMF chief begs for more cash to help Europe April 19, 2012 GEORGE Osborne last night was refusing to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) demands to commit more money to bailing out troubled countries, including those in the Eurozone. IMF chief Christine Lagarde began the group’s spring conference with an appeal for cash, warning finance ministers that the Eurozone crisis is still very much a threat to [...]
France prepares to go to the polls as Sarkozy trails behind April 19, 2012 FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy is forecast to lose the country’s presidential election ahead of the polls opening on Sunday. Sarkozy is neck and neck in the opinion polls with socialist challenger Francois Hollande for the first round of voting, but is lagging behind when it comes to a run-off vote between the top two candidates [...]
Caixa profits slump after loan provision April 19, 2012 SPANISH bank Caixa yesterday reported an 84 per cent drop in net income to €48m (£39.3m) as the impact of new requirements linked to risky property loans weighed heavily on its quarterly results. The lender said it has absorbed a €2.44bn provision under new rules governing Spanish property loans, the “huge effort” of which has [...]
Aviva reshuffle sees departure of three execs April 19, 2012 IGAL Mayer, the head of insurer Aviva’s flagship European business, has lost his job in a boardroom shake-up designed to “simplify” management and boost profits. Alain Dromer, head of Aviva’s fund management arm, and North American boss Richard Hoskins are also set to leave the firm, the insurance giant said yesterday. “The departure of the [...]
Aldermore makes second-half profit after year of investment April 19, 2012 NEW bank Aldermore wiped out most of its losses last year after increasing its income by more than 50 per cent. The homeowners and small businesses specialist cut its full-year losses by 90 per cent to £899,000 after passing the break-even point at the end of June. The venture, set up by buyout house AnaCap [...]
FRC launches consultation over changes to governance rules April 19, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Reporting Council (FRC) has this morning launched a widespread consultation on changes to the rules governing auditors and corporate stewardship, but has stopped short of proposing binding regulation. The regulator is planning to update the UK’s 20-year old corporate governance code, as well as revising aspects of the stewardship code – introduced in [...]
Former Co-op bank boss agreed compensation worth £4.5m April 19, 2012 NEVILLE Richardson, the former head of the Co-Op’s banking group, agreed a £1.4m compensation payment for loss of office when he quit the group. He resigned in July last year but received a further £380,000 in payment after agreeing to work until the end of the year. He decided to take his pension entitlements as [...]
Hedge fund assets reach record high on global markets bounce April 19, 2012 THE HEDGE fund industry’s total assets reached a record high of $2.13 trillion at the start of this year, new figures show. Investors put a net $16bn into hedge funds in the first three months of 2012, Hedge Fund Research (HFR) said yesterday. Funds with fixed income-based relative value or macro strategies had inflows of [...]
Goldman to sell Petershill stake April 19, 2012 Goldman Sachs is in talks to sell its Petershill Fund, a portfolio of hedge fund assets that the bank has run for the past five years. The fund was set up and run until last year by Jonathan Sorrell – the son of WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell – who left last year in a high-profile [...]
