Banks welcome China-UK talks on forex trade January 15, 2012 TWO OF Britain’s biggest banks have welcomed government efforts to establish the City as the world’s biggest centre for trading China’s currency outside Hong Kong. Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands and his counterpart at HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, have both committed to send senior representatives to bi-annual lobbying meetings with the Bank of China, Barclays [...]
Shell closing its R&D unit in Cheshire January 15, 2012 SHELL is closing its research and development centre in Thornton, Cheshire and relocating 280 employees to other sites around the UK The company said none of the scientists currently based there will lose their jobs, but they will be moved to other UK sites in 2014. In a statement, Shell said: “Some of these positions [...]
Banks debate greater pay transparency January 15, 2012 BANKS are mulling an unprecedented level of transparency in the way they disclose directors’ pay that could pre-empt government moves to make it easier to understand their bonuses. An industry source at one of the UK’s big-four banks told City A.M. that some lenders are having animated debates about how can they defuse the row [...]
Wall St braced for bleak results January 15, 2012 SOME of Wall Street’s biggest banks are preparing to reveal a sharp decline in earnings for 2011 when they unveil results this week. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are all expected to say profits dropped last year as the Eurozone crisis caused bond and equity trading to dry up. Share [...]
Disciplinaries surge in finance January 15, 2012 THE number of disciplinary cases being brought against workers in the financial services sector has more than doubled in the past two years, according to new figures released today. Almost 2,200 employees performing “controlled functions” at FSA-authorised firms were disciplined in 2010 compared to 1,027 in 2008, in a sign that companies are responding to [...]
Labour under fire over Balls U-turn on cuts January 15, 2012 LABOUR will not reverse the coalition’s spending cuts, despite spending the last 18 months describing them as “too far, too fast,” shadow chancellor Ed Balls has announced. He acknowledged that to become “credible” Labour must make “a clear commitment to balanced but tough spending and budget discipline.” Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday confirmed he would [...]
Private sector bidders line up to win MoD outsourcing contracts January 15, 2012 SUPPORT services firm Serco is in the running to win two key contracts at the Ministry of Defence. The group is believed to be battling IBM for the contract to manage back office services, such as human resources and finance, for the department. It is also thought to be up against Capita for the right [...]
CRUISE INDUSTRY DENTED BY DISASTER January 15, 2012 THE spectacular cruise liner accident off the coast of Italy is not just a disaster for the ship’s owners and victims of the tragedy, but could inflict wider damage as potential passengers worry about safety. The Costa Concordia, with more than 4,000 people on board, flipped on its side after hitting a rock on Friday [...]
Clegg backs off from staff votes on pay January 15, 2012 THE DEPUTY Prime Minister today called for more employee ownership of firms, arguing that a share-owning workforce is more productive and has better long-term job prospects. The stance represents a turnaround from ideas mooted last month, including proposals for employees to sit on remuneration boards and a limit to executive pay based on average earnings [...]
Independent Scotland could keep the pound says Lib Dem’s Moore January 15, 2012 AN independent Scotland could keep the pound, the Westminster government said yesterday. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore appeared to go beyond George Osborne’s previously guarded comments on the matter when he told the BBC that he did not think there would by a “legal problem” with retaining sterling, but questioned its practicality. “You do have to [...]
