IG Group sizes up MF Global’s ex-client base December 13, 2011 ROUGH financial markets pushed IG Group’s like-for-like revenues up by a better-than-expected 28 per cent in the past six months, it said yesterday. The spreadbetting group said overall revenues are expected to reach £195.6m for the six months to the end of November, with “strong growth” in revenue of 25 per cent when its closed-down [...]
Exchanges eye new disposals December 13, 2011 STOCK exchange giants Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext offered to sell off large chunks of their derivatives businesses yesterday in a new offer to try to push their $10bn (£6.4bn) merger through European regulators. The two exchanges said they would be willing to sell off more of their European single equity derivatives businesses currently operated [...]
Morgan Stanley takes a $1.8bn hit in MBIA case December 13, 2011 MORGAN Stanley and MBIA have agreed a settlement that will remove some risky derivative contracts from the bank’s books and end lawsuits the parties had filed against one another. The deal, announced yesterday, will result in a $1.8bn (£1.16bn) charge for Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter. After a tax credit, the bank will lose [...]
Best Buy hit as America reins in its retail spending December 13, 2011 US retail sales grew at their slowest pace in five months in November, tempering expectations for a strong holiday shopping season. Retail sales increased a weaker-than-expected 0.2 per cent after gaining 0.6 per cent in October, a commerce department report showed yesterday. Some economists warned that some of the strength in US spending has come [...]
LSE neck and neck with Chi-X in November trade December 13, 2011 THE LONDON Stock Exchange group narrowly stayed as Europe’s biggest equity trading venue by turnover in November, with €191.4bn (£163bn) traded across all its venues, figures out yesterday showed. The LSE’s nearest competitor, multilateral trading facility (MTF) Chi-X Europe, saw turnover of €151.6bn in November but failed to match the LSE’s level even when added [...]
Was Cameron right to veto EU treaty? December 13, 2011 WITH Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to veto planned amendments to the Lisbon treaty still sending shockwaves through the cabinet, we’re asking our Voice of the City panel, run in association with PoliticsHome.com, whether Cameron made the right move. Was the veto, as Cameron said in the Commons on Monday, necessary “to protect Britain’s national [...]
Friends Life invests in Malaysia December 13, 2011 Friends Life, the life insurance brand owned by buyout vehicle Resolution, will start selling shariah policies in Malaysia after buying into an Islamic joint venture yesterday. The insurer invested £6m to gain a 30 per cent stake in AmFamily Takaful, a subsidiary of local banking group Ambank, which will sell Shariah compliant family takaful, the [...]
Cenkos picks new chief executive December 13, 2011 Broker Cenkos Securities has chosen a replacement for outgoing chief executive Simon Melling, promoting Jim Durkin who joined the firm as head of corporate broking in March 2005. Durkin was made an executive director of the company in October 2006 but gave up this position in November 2009 to concentrate on his corporate broking role [...]
RSM Tenon plunges 32 per cent December 13, 2011 Shares in accountancy firm RSM Tenon fell by more than 30 per cent during trading yesterday after the company said “erratic markets” were hitting business. At the group’s AGM chief executive Andy Raynor said all of RSM’s services had suffered a fall in year-on-year trading performance. RSM’s next scheduled financial update is due 21 February next [...]
Boeing wins $19bn aircraft order December 13, 2011 Boeing won a $19bn (£12.25bn) deal to sell 150 737 MAX aircraft to Dallas-based carrier Southwest Airlines, in what it called its biggest ever order. The aerospace giant said Southwest is the first customer to finalise an order for the 737 MAX, which is expected to enter service in 2017. The firm order is the [...]
