Marshall Wace December 11, 2011 In Friday’s edition of City A.M. we wrongly stated that senior traders at hedge fund Marshall Wace shared £38.58m for the year to February 2011. The profit pool for sharing among 10 partners was in fact £6.9m.
IMF: solution is still eluding the Eurozone December 11, 2011 THE WORLD is still waiting for a solution to the Eurozone crisis following last week’s make-or-break summit, IMF chief economic Olivier Blanchard said yesterday. While he said there has been “progress”, Blanchard added: “What happened last week is important: it’s part of the solution, but it’s not the solution.” “A lot of the volatility is [...]
UK business fears over Europe’s plans for pension funding December 11, 2011 TWO thirds of business leaders are concerned about the prospect of the EU enforcing plans to increase pension funding requirements for firms operating a defined benefit pension scheme, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Towers Watson. The survey, which covered firms employing a total of 1.3m people, showed [...]
Q&A: WERE THE CITY’S INTERESTS PROTECTED BY CAMERON? December 11, 2011 Q. SO CAMERON SAFEGUARDED THE CITY FROM BRUSSELS’ RED TAPE, RIGHT? A. Well no, not necessarily. Cameron also wants UK authorities to have the power to impose “gold-plated” regulations on the financial sector, including capital requirements that go even further than the proposed maximum discussed by the European Union. However, the Prime Minister did push [...]
Rumours spark bank run on Swedish lender December 11, 2011 SWEDISH lender Swedbank said yesterday that queues of people withdrawing money at its cash machines in Latvia were due to a false rumour spread by social media that Swedish banks had problems. “These are totally irrelevant rumors coming out of social media. The bank’s position is more than solid,” Swedbank spokesman Thomas Backteman said. “The [...]
FSA could win veto on mega-takeovers December 11, 2011 THE City regulator could be given new powers to veto bank takeovers after the publication today of a controversial report into the collapse of RBS. The recommendation, believed to be included in the 500-page document prepared by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), is designed to prevent a repeat of the RBS-led €71bn (£49bn) takeover of [...]
MP triumphs as watchdog is set to publish and be damned December 11, 2011 MORE than a year after the City regulator released a paltry 298-word statement summarising its investigation into RBS, the publication today of a fuller report marks a victory for Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury select committee. Tyrie led the public outcry when, last December, the Financial Services Authority cited legal reasons and refused [...]
Cinven eyes Mothercare December 11, 2011 CINVEN, the private equity giant behind Pizza Express, is eyeing a potential takeover of Mothercare, the ailing baby products retailer. The firm is understood to be in early stages of forming a potential offer and has yet to approach Mothercare’s board, which is being led by chairman Alan Parker after his appointment in August. Last [...]
Boost from QE overestimated by Bank of England – report December 11, 2011 THE BANK of England overestimated the impact of its initial quantitative easing programmes, it emerged this morning, while the latest round of asset purchases could be less effective than previously thought. A study by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reveals that the policy caused yields on government debt to fall by only a fraction [...]
Babycare chain has a lot to prove if losses drag on for the next few years December 11, 2011 THERE was an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu when Mothercare’s chairman Alan Parker announced an overhaul of the troubled baby goods chain’s UK arm last month. Almost a decade after Ben Gordon parachuted in to rescue the firm from collapse, expanding Mothercare’s presence overseas and restoring confidence in the brand, problems at the heart of [...]
