Law firm profits to be hit by bartering March 21, 2010 FINANCIAL directors at the UK’s top law firms have said their profitability is under threat by clients which are increasingly applying pressure to reduce fees, according to recent research. Legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell found that 60 per cent of financial directors at the UK’s top 100 firms said that downward pressure from major clients, [...]
Young lawyers stung by overspecialised market March 21, 2010 OVERSPECIALISATION in the legal profession should be dismantled as young solicitors trying to find work have been hit the hardest by recent cutbacks at commercial law firms, said The Law Society. Young lawyers specialising in banking, property and commercial law are having a harder time finding employment as a result of the global recession, said [...]
New group to give wealthy people advice March 21, 2010 A COLLECTION of bankers and lawyers have formed a new steering committee aimed at giving advice to wealthy individuals looking to make large donations to charities. Coutts & Co, JP Morgan and legal outfit Withers have come together, along with chair Dame Stephanie Shirley, to launch and develop a philanthropy advice service for high-net worth [...]
UK investors live in fear of tax increases March 21, 2010 TAX increases are the biggest threat to UK investors’ finances in 2010, according to research by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). A survey by the body has revealed that 45 per cent of investors and 21 per cent of the general public view changes in the tax rates as their major worry. In order [...]
Reforms required to make India world class March 21, 2010 CITYA.M. readers struggling with the end of the UK winter won’t want to hear I am in India. My business on your behalf is strengthening ties with India’s financial services community, but the hot topic with locals on the street is the Indian Premier League. The remarkable success of this cricket tournament, which only got [...]
Axa wants public sector pensions cut March 21, 2010 AXA, the French insurance group, has called on the UK’s three main political parties to spell out how they plan to tackle the increasing cost of generous public sector pensions. The insurer wants public sector workers to start contributing to their pensions during their careers rather than receiving a set income in retirement. It added [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 21, 2010 Prupim Asia The real estate investment company, a joint venture between Prupim UK and Prudential’s Asian fund management business, has appointed Scott Girard as its new chief executive. Girard, currently chief investment officer at the firm, started his career at ANZ Funds Management in Australia before working at a consultancy. He takes over from Alex [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 21, 2010 LLOYDS Execution Noble says the government will sell down Lloyds shares ahead of the election due to strong results and a good level of income growth. Costs are well controlled and lower than the equivalent period in 2009. They continue to expect Lloyds to report net profit of at least £529m for 2010, against a [...]
The brewing boss who says pubs have to clean up their act to survive March 21, 2010 Thirty-nine pubs close a week in the UK and the economy may be only crawling towards recovery, but the chief executive of pub company Marston’s thinks this is just the right time to build bigger and better outlets. The FTSE 250 business – which runs 2,200 pubs and five breweries – raised £140m from investors [...]
The chicest way to buy and sell March 21, 2010 TARA Nash-King does something most women would find difficult at best, and impossible at worst. She lives in a showroom, and the cascades of bags, shoes and clothes that greet you on entering her mews house in Westbourne Park are not her own. They are the perfectly placed, impeccably hung and ubiquitously photographed desiger items she [...]
