Lenders fear management firings if they fail stress tests January 21, 2014 BOSSES should not be fired by the Bank of England if banks or building societies perform poorly in the upcoming stress tests, industry groups said yesterday. The Bank of England is setting out plans for annual stress tests so regulators and markets can see lenders’ strengths. The Building Societies’ Association and the British Bankers’ Association both [...]
Verizon reports strong growth while IBM falls January 21, 2014 VERIZON reported strong fourth quarter growth in its Verizon Wireless joint venture yesterday while IBM, the world’s largest technology services company, reported its seventh straight quarterly decline as demand for its services continues to fall. Verizon’s shares fell 1.3 per cent yesterday to $47.7, which analysts attributed to profit taking ahead of its $130bn buyout [...]
UBS, the chairman’s daughter, and a row over bank connections January 21, 2014 SHE MAY only be a junior banker but Joyce Wei has caused quite a stir in the past few days in the Hong Kong capital markets. First, JP Morgan pulled away from advising on the flotation of a maker of specialty chemicals on finding that Wei had worked for the bank. Then it emerged she [...]
Johnson & Johnson warns drug sales will slow down this year January 21, 2014 JOHNSON & Johnson saw its share price fall 1.1 per cent yesterday after the company forecast lower earnings than were expected for 2014 as its prescription drug sales aren’t expected to grow as strongly. The healthcare company also reported profits of $3.52bn (£2.13bn) for the fourth quarter, up 4.5 per cent from 2012, on revenues [...]
Commuters to see internet speeds boosted January 21, 2014 OFCOM yesterday announced it will make a large amount of spectrum available for new satellite-based technologies that could allow passengers on fast moving planes and boats to access the internet at ten times the speeds offered by current technology. Ofcom said it hopes the first commercial deployment of the technology to begin by the end [...]
Firms still hold back as house lending rockets January 21, 2014 WHILE credit is rapidly flowing into the mortgage market, new figures from the Bank of England suggest that firms are still holding back from borrowing to grow. According to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday, gross lending for housing rocketed during 2013, up by 49 per cent in the 12 months [...]
Lord Levene drags ex-Bank chief into Lloyds sell off row January 21, 2014 POLITICAL pressure applied behind the scenes stopped NBNK buying the 632 Lloyds branches and led to the disastrous Co-op Bank attempt to take over the branches, NBNK’s former boss Lord Levene told MPs yesterday, citing conversations with Lord King. Levene said the then-Bank of England governor had warned him politicians would block his bid. NBNK [...]
Government pledges personal support to help boost exports January 21, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT has pledged personal support to help UK medium-sized businesses trade with emerging markets. The trade minister Lord Livingston announced yesterday that he will write to all of the UK’s 8,900 mid-sized businesses, those with a turnover between £25m and £250m a year, to offer them support from UK Trade and Investment in a [...]
Chinese central bank injection to avert crunch January 21, 2014 THE PEOPLE’S Bank of China (PBOC) intervened to boost liquidity yesterday, acting to head off a further credit crunch in the country’s squeezed and secretive monetary system China’s central bank announced in social media that it will ensure stability in markets, and is reported to have injected about 255bn yuan (£25.59bn) into the country’s interbank [...]
Wetherspoons founder hits out at Labour’s pub regulation plan January 21, 2014 THE FOUNDER of the pub chain JD Wetherspoon has hit back, after a Labour minister called for tighter regulations for pub companies. Tim Martin said that although he thinks Punch Taverns and Enterprise have not treated some tenants well, tighter regulation would punish family-run companies who do a good job and try to be fair. “The [...]
