Goldman reveals key role March 22, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs is believed to have picked London-based vice chairman Michael Sherwood as the next chair of its influential partnership committee. Sherwood, who is co-head of Goldman’s European business, would replace chief operating officer Gary Cohn as head of the panel, in the latest reshuffle at the top of the investment bank. The promotion has [...]
Munich Re faces £1.3bn Japan losses March 22, 2011 CLAIMS payments from the twin catastrophes in Japan are likely to cost global reinsurer Munich Re €1.5bn (£1.3bn), it said yesterday. The huge loss has ripped through Munich Re’s 2011 catastrophe budget and caused it to abandon its full-year profit target of €2.4bn. The estimated loss beat analysts’ forecasts for €1bn in claims from insuring [...]
Glencore close to hiring eight banks for float March 22, 2011 GLENCORE, the Swiss commodity trading giant, is close to hiring eight banks to supervise its planned multi-billion-dollar London and Hong Kong listing, a person familiar with the matter said. Glencore, valued earlier this year by one analyst at about $60bn (£36.7bn), is continuing to prepare for what could be a record London initial public offering [...]
Rising deficit hits Osborne’s budget plans March 22, 2011 GOVERNMENT borrowing reached £11.8bn in February — a record high for this time of year – according to official figures released yesterday. Net borrowing, excluding interventions in the financial sector, was considerably higher than in February 2010, when the government recorded a £9.45bn monthly deficit. The figures cast doubt over the amount of leeway chancellor [...]
Inflation soars to a 28-month peak March 22, 2011 INFLATION has reached its highest level since October 2008, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday. The consumer price index – which the Bank of England is tasked with keeping close to two per cent – jumped from four per cent in January to 4.4 per cent in February. “The Bank is going to [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE BUDGET? March 22, 2011 PHILIP RADLEY | GUARANTEES AND BONDS “Well, for a start, we really need to cut government spending. Hopefully the budget will be less than disastrous, because at the moment taxes are up, petrol is increasing, and with inflation it seems that the price of everything is rising.” MATT BYNORTH | COOPER GAY “As a potential [...]
Santander loses a third exec to Lloyds March 22, 2011 LLOYDS chief Antonio Horta-Osorio has poached another top executive off the board he led at Santander UK, completing a clear-out of the execs that headed the bank under his leadership. Alison Brittain, executive director for retail distribution and intermediaries at Santander UK, will join Lloyds in September as head of its Lloyds TSB and Bank [...]
Tough year sees Shore profit drop March 22, 2011 AIM-listed investment bank Shore Capital saw a pre-tax profits drop by a third to £8.37m in 2010 but said that it was a “strong performance” given “tougher conditions” in the middle of the year. Its market-making business bucked the trend, however, improving revenues by 5.8 per cent. Chief executive Howard Shore told City A.M. that [...]
Man Group gains $250m on sale of Bluecrest stake March 22, 2011 HEDGE fund manager Man Group sold its stake in successful rival BlueCrest Capital back to the firm for $633m (£389m) yesterday. Man, which bought the 25.5 per cent stake in 2003, made about a $250m profit from the sale, it said. The sale is expected to add more than $500m to Man’s regulatory capital, which [...]
London Capital to raise £8m in stock sale March 22, 2011 Financial services firm London Capital Group Holdings plans to raise up to £8m through a discounted share placing to meet regulatory capital requirements. The company, which offers online spread betting, foreign exchange and broking services, will issue 13.3m shares at 60p per share, a 13 per cent discount to the stock’s Monday close. The company [...]
