Britain faces disaster if it leaves the EU, Standard Life boss warns March 24, 2015 CITY grandee Sir Gerry Grimstone called on finance firms to “devote all our energy” to keeping Britain in the EU, in a speech yesterday. The chairman of Standard Life and TheCityUK said anyone could want to leave the trading bloc – a prospect which has been raised by the Prime Minister’s promise to renegotiate the UK’s [...]
Direct Line CEO gets £2m raise March 24, 2015 Insurance boss Paul Geddes has been granted a pay rise of more than £2m – up from £2.54m in 2013 to £4.62m last year. The Direct Line Group (DLG) chief executive’s pay was revealed in the company’s final results yesterday, which showed pre-tax profits jumped by 12.2 per cent from £407.3m to £456.8m in 2014. [...]
Panmure pays out first dividend since 2007 after a bumper year March 24, 2015 Panmure Gordon unveiled its first dividend for eight years yesterday in a sign of the group’s resurgent fortunes during last year’s bumper crop of capital market deals. The corporate finance house, led by chief executive Phillip Wale, will pay about £400,000 in total to investors through a 2.5p dividend after pre-tax profits almost doubled to [...]
HSBC’s brum do as 1,000 set to move to new HQ March 24, 2015 HSBC will set up a new headquarters in Birmingham for its UK retail bank, when it implements the ring-fence which divide its investment banking operations from its retail work. Around 1,000 roles will move from London to Birmingham before the new rules are implemented in January 2015. The city was home to Midland Bank, which [...]
MPs demand NHS clauses go from EU-US trade deal March 24, 2015 A POWERFUL group of MPs has told the government to drop one of the most controversial aspects from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), between the EU and the US. The business, innovation and skills (BIS) select committee reported that investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses, which could allow companies to override local laws by suing [...]
Challenger bank Shawbrook’s float succeeds as it covers books March 24, 2015 SHAWBROOK Bank has covered the books in its stock market flotation, successfully attracting enough institutional investors into its shares, City A.M. understands. The challenger is raising £90m in new funds, and is selling a 25 per cent stake, plus an over-allotment option. It follows stock market debuts from Aldermore earlier this month, and from Virgin [...]
Dark pools set for probe from City watchdog March 24, 2015 Private trading venues called dark pools face a probe from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the City watchdog wants to investigate potential conflicts of interest. The FCA’s business plan for the year ahead yesterday set out a range of probes across financial services. “We have been considering the risks around dark pools and will [...]
Andreessen Horowitz finds an Improbable way to fund startup startup Improbable March 24, 2015 SILICON Valley group Andreessen Horowitz has just ploughed $20m (£13.4m) into London-based virtual worlds creator Improbable. Entrepreneur Chris Dixon, who is a partner of Andreessen Horowitz and is behind its investment in tech firm Oculus VR before it was bought out by Facebook for $2bn, will join Improbable’s board along with colleague Marc Andreessen. The [...]
Life’s a Boom Beach for finnish game maker March 24, 2015 CLASH of Clans developer Supercell reported yesterday that its core profit doubled to €515m (£378m). Sales tripled last year on the back of profitable hit games, such as Clans and others Hay Day and Boom Beach. Supercell said revenues for 2014 increased to €1.54bn from €519m.
I love you, I want you, have a £4bn tax hike March 24, 2015 TREASURY minister Andrea Leadsom showered praise on the financial services sector at City Week yesterday, telling the global crowd: “It is a Conservative government that will relentlessly focus on providing those pro-growth, pro-business, pro-financial policies. “You can spread opportunity and prosperity throughout the country,” she gushed. “In short, when you succeed, the UK succeeds.” Leadsom [...]
