Business backs simplified December 18, 2012 THE 90-day consultation period before firms can begin large-scale redundancies will be cut in half, the government announced yesterday. The news was welcomed by business groups, who said it would reduce uncertainty for staff and reverse the so-called gold-plating of EU employment rules. Employment minister Jo Swinson also unveiled plans to exclude workers on fixed [...]
Spot checks for City plumbing start next year December 18, 2012 THE BANK of England will perform spot checks on key parts of the infrastructure of the financial system under a new regulatory regime outlined yesterday, potentially arriving on site without warning to check the rules are being followed and the bodies are not risking financial stability. As with banks, the regulator intends to be judgmental [...]
RBS repays £10m to customers who left cash in their machines December 18, 2012 BANK customers who mistakenly left cash in RBS’ ATMs had their accounts debited when the money was taken back into the machine, rather than refunded, in the years up to 2011, the bank said yesterday. Customers who were wrongly charged from 2005 through to 2011 will be refunded with interest, the bank announced yesterday. But [...]
No rebound from finance cuts, says S&P December 18, 2012 INVESTMENT banks will not bounce back from the deep cuts in staff and the closure of some operating units, credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s warned yesterday, arguing tough new regulations are forcing a permanent strict cap on costs. Banks typically cut back staff in lean years and increase hiring when times improve. But this [...]
SAV Credit buying bank from Virgin to enter savings market December 18, 2012 CREDIT card lender SAV Credit is buying Church House Trust from Virgin Money in the first half of 2013, the two firms announced yesterday. Virgin Money bought Church House Trust in January 2010 because it wanted a banking licence, avoiding the arduous process of applying for one from scratch. But because it bought much of [...]
Watchdog seeking bans on AFP management December 18, 2012 THE CITY watchdog said yesterday it was looking to ban the chief executive of Arch Financial Products (AFP) from working for regulated companies. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said that bosses at the investment manager had failed to disclose conflicts of interest when managing the now-suspended Arch Cru. It claims that Arch Cru funds had [...]
Moody’s: credit ratings will never return to 2007’s level December 18, 2012 FALLING government support and an uncertain economic environment mean banks should not expect their credit ratings to bounce back to pre-crisis levels ever again, ratings agency Moody’s said yesterday. The report describes banks’ reliance on confidence-sensitive funding, their high leverage and their strong correlation with governments as “substantial and inherent risks.” “The promise of implicit [...]
Jefferies tops its estimates December 18, 2012 JEFFERIES Group saw its trading revenue more than double to $293m (£180.5m) from $141m a year earlier. The midsized investment bank benefited from higher earnings from its fixed-income unit, and said its business expansion in Asia has started delivering. Jefferies said it also benefited from a pickup in trading across the board in September thanks [...]
Laidlaw struggles to pin blame over failed West Coast contest December 18, 2012 A POOR chain of command helped cause the West Coast rail franchise fiasco, the author of a report into the failed contest told MPs yesterday – but confidentiality rules mean some officials involved have not been identified. Sam Laidlaw, a non-executive director at the Department for Transport (DfT), said the department redacted parts of his [...]
Heathrow sees surging earnings December 18, 2012 Heathrow Airport has forecast a 16.6 per cent earnings rise to £1.34bn for next year as airline charges are hiked. Heathrow told investors yesterday that passenger traffic is likely to rise 1.2 per cent to 70.9m next year, as carriers switch to bigger planes, though the near-full airport forecasts a “marginal” rise in flights. Revenues [...]
