RAPID RESPONSES December 21, 2011 Move on accounts Surveys demonstrate that individuals and small businesses alike are often dissatisfied with their bank, and yet they are still overwhelmingly unlikely to change provider. Genuine account portability would radically improve matters. Sir John Vickers has called for the formation by September 2013 of a free current account redirection service, that allows the [...]
Ten of the top givers in the City December 21, 2011 AS we now know from the tremendous response to this newspaper’s first ever Christmas charity appeal, the City is full of givers. Despite the tougher times many of our readers have experienced, as a group this year they dug in to support a charity that helps people help themselves. This page is a tribute to [...]
Carve yourself a very merry Xmas December 21, 2011 IN the Lord Byron room of Brown’s Hotel on Albemarle Street, a slow-grown just-roasted chicken rests on a bespoke stand and our mission is to carve it – properly. Mark Hix, ex-chef-director of Caprice Holdings, is hosting a masterclass to revive “the lost art of carving”, and he is teaching over a long roast lunch [...]
Prosecutors say Terry to be charged over racial abuse allegations December 21, 2011 Prosecutors say Chelsea and England captain John Terry should be charged over alleged racial abuse in Premier League game.
Banks take £409bn in ECB loans December 21, 2011 Banks took a huge 489 billion euros (£409bn) at the European Central Bank’s first ever offering of 3-year funding on Wednesday, providing hope a credit crunch can be avoided and that the money may be used to buy Italian and Spanish debt. A total of 523 banks borrowed money at the tender with the final [...]
Banks fuel FTSE gains after Lloyds upgrade December 21, 2011 Banks led London’s blue chip index up in early trading – tracking gains in Wall Street and Asia. Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Lloyds to trigger a rise in the sector which has had a torrid year with the Eurozone debt crisis taking its toll. Lloyds was up 4.3 per cent as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded [...]
Bank leaves door open for more QE December 21, 2011 Bank of England policymakers left the door open for an additional injection of cash into the faltering economy in February, judging that the time was not ripe yet for more easing given uncertainty about the euro crisis, minutes to the Bank’s 7 and 8 December meeting showed. All nine members of the central bank’s Monetary [...]
Public borrowing lower than expected in November December 21, 2011 Britain’s budget deficit narrowed more than expected in November compared to a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday, although weak growth and worries about the euro zone still threaten the government’s attempts to balance the books. The figures are a bright spot for the government after ratings agency Moody’s warned on Tuesday that Britain [...]
Prosecutors raid Olympus offices December 21, 2011 Japanese prosecutors raided offices of Olympus Corp and the home of a former executive on Wednesday in a probe into a $1.7bn (£1.1bn) accounting scandal that has threatened the survival of the once-proud camera and medical equipment maker. Tokyo prosecutors, police and financial regulators have joined forces in a rare joint investigation of the 92-year-old [...]
Credit Suisse buys HSBC’s private bank December 21, 2011 HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, is retreating from Japan’s private banking market, selling a business that serves the wealthy to Credit Suisse, which is raising its profile in the world’s second-largest market for millionaires. The sale is part of a strategy outlined by HSBC in May. Chief executive Stuart Gulliver wants to cut annual costs by [...]
