Services sector in the UK grows as euro countries slump further December 6, 2011 THE UK’s services sector registered increasing output growth in November, with its PMI rising from 51.3 to 52.1. However, employment is believed to have fallen by several thousand as the picture for new orders remained weak. In the US, services growth declined slightly by remained “modest,” falling from 52.9 to 52.0 in November, defying the European [...]
HSBC hit with £10.5m FSA mis-sale fine December 6, 2011 HSBC was ordered to pay a £10.5m fine yesterday and accepted it would have to pay almost £30m of compensation to clients of one of its subsidiaries for advising elderly pensioners to invest in risky products. The Financial Services Authority hit HSBC with the fine, its biggest ever for retail practices, after the bank’s NHFA [...]
BP ACCUSES HALLIBURTON OF COVER UP OVER OIL SPILL December 6, 2011 BP has accused Halliburton of destroying evidence of its inadequate cement work on the Gulf of Mexico oil well that blew out last year, and called for the firm to be punished. The accusation, in a BP court filing, comes ahead of a trial, expected in February, to assign blame and damages for the April [...]
German bank to buy back €600m debt December 6, 2011 GERMANY’S second-biggest bank, Commerzbank, said it would buy back €600m (£515m) of its own hybrid equity from investors yesterday in a bid to shore up its capital position to meet tough new Basel III capital requirements due to take effect in 2013. Commerzbank said it would buy back the trust-preferred securities, which are a mixture [...]
COMMERZBANK’S CAPITAL BASE December 6, 2011 Q.WHAT IS HYBRID DEBT? A.Hybrid debt is a broad term for instruments that act like both debt and equity and often convert from a debt-like security to equity in a trigger scenario such as a financial crisis. Hybrid securities usually pay a coupon or dividend until their maturity date, in the same way as a [...]
Dexia closer to winning fresh aid guarantees December 6, 2011 STRICKEN bank Dexia has secured temporary financing guarantees from Belgium, France and Luxembourg to keep it running while the countries cement the bailout they put together in October. Yesterday the Franco-Belgian bank said a draft temporary guarantee agreement had been submitted to its board of directors and to the European Commission, which will need to [...]
City wealth manager adds to our appeal December 6, 2011 THERE is more good news for City A.M.’s Christmas appeal with the addition of a generous personal gift from Greg Knight (pictured), practice principal at City wealth manager Welbeck Group today. Knight’s significant donation takes our total to an incredible £200,000 after only two weeks of fundraising. Knight, a former London Scottish rugby player who [...]
£200,000 PLEDGED IN TWO WEEKS December 6, 2011 WE’RE delighted at the huge support for the appeal so far and want to push our fundraising even higher in the next two weeks. To add excitement to your giving, don’t forget to try your hand at City A.M.’s online charity auction. Visit www.cityam.com/auction to bid on exclusive and unmissable gifts for foodies and sports [...]
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK, EDWARD FOX December 6, 2011 We know we are currently only serving a fraction of the people who need banking services in Malawi. With 90 per cent of the population unbanked, we have our work cut out trying to reach the parts that other banks don’t. We’ve got 405,000 savers in the country but we’d like to make it a [...]
BoA Merrill Lynch wants little Osborne fallout December 6, 2011 LOSING a star banker is obviously never easy for an investment bank, dependent as it is on a raft of client relationships. But losing a banker amid speculation of a regulatory probe is especially problematic, since the bank is forced to keep a lid on the reasons for the departure until the regulatory issues have [...]
