Buyout deals enjoy strong third quarter October 3, 2010 PRIVATE equity firms enjoyed a strong third quarter, taking the average value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals to their highest for three years, KPMG research has revealed. Its latest management buyout research showed nearly £9.3bn changed hands in the last three months, almost three times the value of M&A deals in the previous quarter, [...]
MPC split points to uncertainty about rates October 3, 2010 THE rate setting arm of the Bank of England is officially divided. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, Adam Posen, recommended last week that more stimulus be pumped into the economy to avoid a Japan-style lost decade. In stark contrast, hawk Andrew Sentance still argues that no further stimulus is needed… and then you have all [...]
Tesco plan to sell mortgages delayed by FSA October 3, 2010 TESCO’S plans to sell mortgages in Britain could face a delay because it has yet to receive approval from the country’s financial services watchdog. “The FSA (Financial Services Authority) is just being careful. It is a new process and it is very difficult,” a Tesco spokesman said. He declined to comment on a report in [...]
BSkyB braces for crunch EU sports ruling October 3, 2010 BSKYB is braced for a high court hearing this week that could change the football rights landscape. A pub landlady has taken a case to the European Court of Justice claiming Sky is breaching European free-trade rules with the way it sells its commercial Sky Sports packages. Portsmouth-based Karen Murphy was fined after an enforcement [...]
Financial services industry must aid economy October 3, 2010 TODAY I will be speaking at the City of London’s Conservative Party Conference fringe event entitled “The Challenge for Financial Services – Helping the UK Economy Grow.” Having already spoken at the Labour and Liberal Democrat Conferences, this is the third time I have attempted to address this issue in as many weeks. The focus [...]
Prudential denies strategic review talk October 3, 2010 PRUDENTIAL has dismissed suggestions that a strategic review had suggested it should sell its US division and focus on its Asian business. A report in a Sunday newspaper suggested the insurer had called in its broker Goldman Sachs to carry out a strategic review of the business to ease investor concern about its inherent value. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 3, 2010 LEGAL & GENERAL Legal & General has confronted the UK life industry’s strategic challenges, transforming both its product range and cash flow, according to UBS. The broker maintains a “buy” recommendation and says that the fruits of this are now evident and the company has answered the existential questions that still vex some peers. TATE [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 3, 2010 Merchant Securities The financial services group has appointed Chris Smith as its new head of institutional broking, focusing on establishing a research capability in the financials sector. Smith has covered financials for over 20 years, latterly at Jefferies International and Oriel Securities. He also previously worked for HSBC James Capel, where he was the top-ranked [...]
Tensions rise among MPC over more QE October 3, 2010 SPECULATION of a three-way split among the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has intensified in recent days, creating a debate among City economists about whether the Bank will loosen policy even further. External MPC member Adam Posen last week put the cat among the already nervous pigeons when he argued strongly in favour [...]
Losing talented staff costs UK £42bn a year October 3, 2010 UK EMPLOYERS are facing an annual £42bn bill to replace top talent, while almost a quarter of employees are looking for a new job because of insufficient pay. According to new research from audit giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the cost of replacing a competent member of staff equals roughly a year of that person’s salary – [...]
