Diamond crowned as Barclays’ new chief September 7, 2010 CITY insiders voiced concern over the future of Barclays’ retail banking operation yesterday after the group confirmed Bob Diamond would replace John Varley as chief executive. Diamond, who has won renown aggressively building the Barclays Capital investment bank, will take over from Varley next March. Varley will stay on for six months as an adviser [...]
Barclays’ Agius to take helm at BBA September 7, 2010 BARCLAYS chairman Marcus Agius yesterday announced he would step up to chair the British Bankers’ Association after HSBC chairman Stephen Green resigned to take up a new appointment as UK minister for trade and investment. Agius, a former Lazard investment banker, has chaired Barclays since the beginning of 2007. He has maintained a lower profile [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW WILL BOB DIAMOND FIT IN AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE? September 7, 2010 NEIL SHAH | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH “It’s a great example of succession planning as far as I’m concerned. He’ll be in a different position as chief executive, though, and he will probably be more measured in his approach. Where he was before and where he’s going to now are different and he’ll probably be operating [...]
Ex-Goldman banker tipped for HSBC September 7, 2010 FORMER Goldman Sachs investment banker John Thornton was yesterday touted as the most likely candidate to step into Stephen Green’s shoes, after the HSBC chairman accepted the role of trade and investment minister in the coalition government. Green is due to step down before the year is out to fill the last remaining vacancy in [...]
Connaught in administration September 7, 2010 TROUBLED social housing repair firm Connaught put most of its business into administration yesterday, after its lenders refused to further fund the company. The FTSE 250 component said last night that its public sector business will be put into the hands of administrators KPMG, though its environment and compliance arms will remain in operation. The [...]
Insider trading bounty hunter promoted to the board of FSA September 7, 2010 MARGARET COLE staked her claim to a top job when City regulation is passed to the Bank of England by joining the board of the Financial Services Authority yesterday. The enforcement chief, who is described as “tough as old boots” by former private sector colleagues, becomes managing director of financial crime. She joins chairman Adair [...]
Ex-Standard Chartered boss Lord Davies joins $78bn PineBridge September 7, 2010 FORMER Standard Chartered head Lord Davies has taken his second non-executive job since leaving government by agreeing to chair New York-based asset manager PineBridge. Davies joined the firm last month. Although he will continue to work from the UK, the banking veteran will deploy his considerable contacts in the Far East to advise PineBridge on [...]
Commodities drive surge in food inflation September 7, 2010 FOOD price inflation surged to its highest level in more than a year as rising commodity prices fed through into the supermarkets, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will say today. The BRC’s monthly shop price index shows that annual food inflation increased to 3.8 per cent in August from 2.5 per cent in July, the [...]
Growth in UK jobs weakens as doubts over recovery hit September 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S struggling job market continued to suffer in August with the number of permanent appointments rising at the slowest rate since October 2009, against a gloomy backdrop of public sector layoffs and downbeat business confidence. The monthly survey conducted by professional services firm KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) showed that the number [...]
Fears of an economic slowdown after German factory orders drop September 7, 2010 GERMAN factory orders unexpectedly plummeted in July, raising fears of a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy, which rebounded sharply in the second quarter. Official data published yesterday showed that orders fell 2.2 per cent on June, the sharpest monthly drop since February 2009. But they are still up 18 per cent on a year earlier. [...]
