Shock as Lazard’s UK co-head of investment banking quits March 8, 2012 ALEXIS de Rosnay, the co-head of UK investment banking at Lazard, has quit the firm, City A.M. has learnt. The influential rainmaker, who joined Lazard from Lehman a little over three years ago, resigned in the past few days, say sources, without having tied up a new position. There is speculation that de Rosnay, who [...]
Co-op set to revamp board in bid to secure Lloyds branch buyout March 8, 2012 THE Co-operative’s board faces an overhaul ahead of its purchase of 630 Lloyds bank branches as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is believed to have concerns over whether the group can handle the acquisition. A person close to the negotiations told City A.M. he would not be surprised if the Co-op revamped its governance to [...]
Peak fares set to rise in rail savings plan March 8, 2012 THE RAIL network must cut £3.5bn a year from its spending and overhaul ticket prices, transport secretary Justine Greening said yesterday. Setting out the coalition’s plan to shake up Britain’s trains, Greening said above-inflation fare rises on regulated routes will be abolished. But she said she will look into hiking prices on congested peak journeys [...]
Tube staff net Olympics bonus offer of £850 March 8, 2012 LONDON Underground has come a step closer to preventing worker walk-outs during the Olympics by offering staff a bonus of £850 each. Transport for London has raised its offer for around 18,000 LU staff following a dispute with union RMT. Workers would receive a £350 flat-rate bonus, plus an extra £20 per shift and a [...]
AT A GLANCE: RAIL REFORM March 8, 2012 ● Timings Transport secretary Justine Greening has put out a consultation paper in response to Sir Roy McNulty’s report into the sector last year. She hopes to see £3.5bn cut from the annual budget by 2019. ● Peak fares could rise Though the government wants to end inflation-busting fares, plans to ease congestion could include [...]
Aviva profits jump thanks to UK income March 8, 2012 INSURANCE giant Aviva beat expectations to announce a six per cent rise in operating profits to £2.5bn, driven by impressive earnings in its life insurance division. Chief executive Andrew Moss said his strategy of focusing the group on core products in just 12 key markets was paying off but singled out the British businesses for [...]
Schroders stock-picker goes March 8, 2012 BLUE-chip money manager Schroders capped one of the more turbulent years in its two-century history with the departure of its chief investment officer. Alan Brown, well-known for his annual Crystal Ball prediction evenings, will step down from his post and from the board, the firm said yesterday, as it reported a near-halving in asset management [...]
Citi chief Pandit rewarded with $14.8m for 2011 March 8, 2012 CITIGROUP chief executive Vikram Pandit finally got his payday. The third biggest US bank company paid Pandit $14.86m (£9.38m) in 2011, compared with a salary of $1 and no bonus in 2010, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Committee. The 2011 payout included salary of $1.7m and cash supplemented by a cash [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN ANDREW MOSS MAINTAIN AVIVA’S GROWTH? March 8, 2012 JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO The Aviva story is one of longer-term normalisation of earnings and returns, through improved profitability, capital discipline and cash generation. .Aviva is not going to be high growth in the short term, it is cheap on a price to earnings basis and has a high dividend yield which is [...]
Execs in Asia get best pay rises in world March 8, 2012 SALARIES at Asia-based financial services firms are growing much faster than their rivals in Europe and America, research showed yesterday. Insurance, finance and banking firms in Asian hubs like Hong Kong hiked base pay for executives by an average of five per cent last year, according to consultancy Mercer. But while firms in Europe are [...]
