Lenders facing prop trading ban in America December 9, 2013 THE VOLCKER Rule is set to be approved today by regulators, who are voting on the controversial plans to ban banks from trading with their own money. New regulations will also restrict banks’ investment in hedge funds, as part of a wider set of measures to reduce the risks banks take. The rule is named [...]
Germany and France closer to bank union December 9, 2013 FRENCH and German politicians were last night close to a deal on the banking union, making progress towards deciding how failed banks are funded. Germany has wanted national authorities to take the lead, while France has argued for a central fund. “There has to be both a single resolution fund and a role given to national [...]
Barclays equity boss Dean to take sabbatical December 9, 2013 BARCLAYS announced unexpectedly yesterday that Sam Dean, its highly popular and experienced head of equity capital markets in Europe, is taking a sabbatical for family reasons. The news comes at the end of a year during which Dean’s team enjoyed prominence in a number of transactions, acting in the privatisation of Royal Mail and on [...]
Government unveils draft laws for new shale gas tax breaks December 9, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT today published draft legislation to bring in tax breaks for shale gas, as it aims to incentivise new investment into the industry. As outlined in last week’s Autumn Statement, tax on a portion of a company’s production profits – today confirmed at 75 per cent of the amount invested – will be slashed [...]
Bottom Line: Bowing out makes sense to drive growth December 9, 2013 A LOT can change in almost 30 years. When City legend John Duffield founded Jupiter in 1985, the fund management industry in the UK was worth around five per cent of GDP – last year that figure was well above 40 per cent. As funds grow, it’s inevitable that industry players will have to adapt to [...]
Jupiter replaces Bonham Carter with new chief December 9, 2013 JUPITER Fund Management’s veteran chief executive Edward Bonham Carter yesterday announced his resignation as head of the firm, amid a renewed push for growth by the company into overseas markets. Bonham Carter, a fund manager by background, will stand down in March and be replaced by the firm’s distribution and strategy director Maarten Slendebroek. Slendebroek, [...]
Pawn shop A&B counts the costs December 9, 2013 TROUBLED pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond (A&B) spent nearly £5m trying to re-boost the company this year, helping provoke a 75 per cent fall in profits, figures published yesterday show. The high street chain, which is currently seeking a buyer after hitting difficulties caused by a slide in the gold price, spent £2.4m on restructuring costs [...]
Punch Taverns stock lifted by hopes of debt breakthrough December 9, 2013 PUB operator Punch Taverns rose nearly 10 per cent in trading yesterday after it said a complex plan to reduce its huge debt pile was on track – but agreement still needed to be reached with key bondholders. The company, which owns about 4,000 pubs across the country, said a new deal on one chunk [...]
Nationwide shares rise December 9, 2013 NATIONWIDE’S innovative new equity instruments were welcomed by investors yesterday, rising 10 per cent in their first day on the markets. The core capital deferred shares (CCDS) were created by the building society to improve its capital position, though it maintains its plan to save up profits will hit regulators’ targets in any case over [...]
Energy supplier switching hits three-year high December 9, 2013 THE NUMBER of people switching energy supplier hit a three-year high last month, according to new data released yesterday. The number of people switching suppliers in November rose above 614,000, almost double the 356,952 figure from November last year, said the research from Electralink, commissioned by industry body Energy UK. 125,000 of the people who [...]
