Crompton heads for the exit after just one year at UKFI January 11, 2010 JOHN Crompton, the investment banker who has been managing the government’s banking assets at UK Financial Investments (UKFI), has quit the Treasury agency. UKFI announced yesterday that Crompton, head of market investments and formerly of Merrill Lynch, had resigned. “We are obviously sad that John has decided to leave but fully understand his decision to [...]
Tate Gallery quits hedge fund investments after a £1m loss January 11, 2010 THE trustees of the Tate Gallery have withdrawn from hedge funds after losing £1m on investments. Gallery chiefs confirmed that £6m of the organisation’s £27m had been invested. But by March 2009 the Tate had liquidated its holdings – with a 17 per cent loss. That was equivalent to a £1m drop in value. The [...]
Pair face ban after insider trading ruling January 11, 2010 A FORMER research analyst at Evolution Securities and his spread betting friend could be banned from working in financial services after a tribunal decided they had committed market abuse by insider trading. Robin Chhabra covered Ebookers and Eidos for Evolution during the summer of 2004. He was found to have passed restricted information to his [...]
Harman unveils proposals January 11, 2010 A LABOUR government would scrap compulsory retirement at 65, equality minister Harriet Harman signalled yesterday as she outlined plans to let Britain’s “wellderly” work into their 70s and 80s. Currently, workers can be made redundant at 65 without a payoff even if they want to stay in employment, but Harman said the retirement age was [...]
ELECTION 2010 January 11, 2010 N Ireland leader steps aside Northern Ireland first minister Peter Robinson temporarily stood down yesterday ahead of a politically-destabilising inquiry over money his wife raised for a 19-year-old man she was having an affair with. Robinson, who earlier received the backing of his Democratic Unionist Party to stay on as its leader, asked party colleague [...]
Abbey takes Spanish brand January 11, 2010 SPANISH banking giant Santander yesterday signalled that it would join the growing ranks of buyers circling the branches being sold off by Northern Rock, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Chairman Emilio Botín yesterday said that the bank would “take advantage of opportunities” in the UK. Branches up for sale include more than 300 from [...]
Virgin and Tesco banks are unlikely to upset big players January 11, 2010 THE UK’s top five banks will continue to dominate the market despite the recent glut of negative publicity. A new report from Datamonitor suggests new players entering the market have “missed the boat” and should have launched in the direct aftermath of the banking crisis. Customer inertia is seen as the biggest stopping point for [...]
CITY VIEWS: what can virgin do to shake up high street banking? January 11, 2010 ALEX WATKINS | PATERNOSTER “I’ve bought plane tickets from them but I’m not sure I would open a bank account with them. What do they know about banking? They haven’t got any experience of doing that and I like a bank to have an established reputation in the business.” CHRIS CLARK | HUDSON RECRUITMENT GROUP [...]
Co-op’s Christmas price war fuels sales January 11, 2010 THE Co-operative Group’s like-for-like sales rose almost five per cent after slashing prices in a battle with its rivals over Christmas. The UK’s fifth biggest food retailer – which now has 3,000 stores after buying Somerfield last year – was boosted by a massive advertising campaign and overhaul of brands. Like-for-like sales – including VAT [...]
Blacks sales heat up after a boost from the big freeze January 11, 2010 OUTDOOR retailer Blacks Leisure has benefited from Britain’s cold snap as it reported a 12 per cent hike in sales. Blacks, which runs its own brand shops as well as the Millets chain, said it had “significantly enhanced its recovery prospects” after a restructuring with the closure of 87 loss-making stores in the fourth quarter [...]
