Bank complaints dive as scandals come to an end March 3, 2014 COMPLAINTS about PPI mis-selling have begun to fall, at long last reducing the number of cases sent to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the agency said today. A total of 248,801 cases were referred to the FOS in the second half of 2013, down 24 per cent on the first half. PPI complaints made up around three-quarters [...]
International manhunt for UK boiler room fraud suspects March 3, 2014 CITY police are hunting four men across Europe over suspected involvement in boiler room frauds, Crimestoppers said yesterday. The four are thought to have targeted British retail investors. It comes after 110 suspects were arrested in raids across the UK, Spain, Serbia and the US. The City of London Police and the National Crime Agency are looking [...]
More warnings on Libor probe March 3, 2014 TWO MORE bankers were given warning notices by the City watchdog yesterday, setting out the case against those suspected of involvement in alleged attempts to fix Libor. One of the unnamed traders “dishonestly attempted to interfere” with rate submissions, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. The other “took into account requests made by traders to benefit their [...]
Premier close to securing £350m rights issue plan March 3, 2014 PREMIER FOODS is set to announce a radical financial restructuring as soon as this week as part of chief executive Gavin Darby’s rescue plan to turn the debt-laden group back into a “normal company” again. The company behind Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy is expected to launch a £300m-£350m rights issue and is also [...]
Johnston Press looks for £75m from investors to tackle debts March 3, 2014 JOHNSTON Press is planning a rights issue of at least £75m in a bid to shore up its finances. The company, which has around 200 titles in the UK and Ireland including The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post, has struggled to cope with debts of over £300m built up by acquisitions. Cost-cutting and redundancies have brought [...]
Pancake fever: I can’t believe it’s not batter March 3, 2014 DUST off your sieves and practice your frying pan skills, it’s Pancake Tuesday. Whether you’re getting ready for Lent or you’re just a fan of pancakes (like us) – today is the day to get “battered”. Last year Sainsbury’s alone sold 1.731m lemons in the run up to Shrove Tuesday and it plans on a [...]
Cameron finds a stunt double March 3, 2014 ANYONE passing through King’s Cross Station yesterday might have been surprised to see David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond (Irn-Bru in hand) larking around like a couple of besties. But the pair haven’t been building bridges ahead of the referendum later this year – it was a pair of lookalikes launching a new [...]
Poles apart: FX trader will join rugby stars’ trek to North Pole March 3, 2014 WHAT do you get when you mix an Arctic explorer with some ex-England rugby internationals and an FX chief executive? The Capitalist found out last night having hotfooted it to the Shepherd’s Bush HQ of LMAX Exchange – you get a well financed rugby match at the North Pole. The financial exchange company has teamed [...]
Ellen’s Oscar selfie takes top retweet gong March 3, 2014 FORGET who won best movie and who wore it best on the red carpet, the buzz surrounding the Oscars this year centred around this selfie by Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres. “If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars” she tweeted. Last night it had clocked up almost three million retweets within an hour [...]
Sir Bill Gammell to step down from Cairn March 3, 2014 THE CHAIRMAN and founder of Cairn Energy is stepping down, the FTSE 250 oil and gas explorer said yesterday. Sir Bill Gammell will retire as chairman with effect from 15 May and will be replaced by Ian Tyler, who is currently a non-executive director of the company. Tyler was previously chief executive of infrastructure firm Balfour [...]
