Draghi says Eurozone debtors cannot avoid painful austerity October 9, 2012 THERE is no alternative to fiscal consolidation, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi said yesterday in a speech to the European Parliament. “It is without doubt that the process of fiscal consolidation in the short term will depress,” Draghi said. “But what’s the alternative?” Draghi went on to describe deficit and debt levels and “unsustainable”, but said [...]
ING sells out to Barclays in UK retail bank exit October 9, 2012 ING Direct, the Dutch financial group, yesterday sold its £16.5bn mortgage and savings book to Barclays at a loss of £168m, as it bid farewell to the UK retail banking market. The deal, which is a major boost for Barclays’ retail base, will see Barclays take on 1.7m ING customer savings accounts with deposits of [...]
Don’t read too much into shift of focus – it started under Bob October 9, 2012 BARCLAYS’ purchase of ING Direct UK is being seen by many as yet another sign that the bank’s focus, under new chief executive Antony Jenkins, has shifted firmly to its retail arm. Jenkins’ early speeches have certainly been littered with regulator-pleasing pledges to shape up, putting him at the front of a queue of UK [...]
Court hears UBS trader hid risk exposure of $12bn October 9, 2012 ALLEGED rogue trader Kweku Adoboli exposed Swiss bank UBS to billions of dollars of hidden market risk for weeks on end, peaking at nearly $12bn on 8 August last year, a London court heard yesterday. Adoboli disguised his true trading position with fictitious hedging trades that made it look as though the apparent risk to [...]
PM says Plan B is not answer to gloomy data October 9, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S resolve to cut the deficit will not be tested by dismal new IMF economic forecasts, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday, instead suggesting the government would attempt supply-side reform to bring growth. The IMF said the government should delay some spending cuts scheduled for next year if economic data failed to improve, but [...]
Leveraged buyout deals send Carlyle Group fund values up October 9, 2012 ALTERNATIVE fund manager the Carlyle Group boosted the value of its funds by three per cent last quarter, it said yesterday, stemming a drop in value seen in the previous quarter. The investment house, which floated on the Nasdaq in May, found comfort in its traditional private equity offering, increasing leveraged buyout fund values by [...]
City Views | Is Boris Johnson a help or hindrance to David Cameron? October 9, 2012 CARLY TANTAU FINANCIAL SERVICES RECRUITMENT Boris is actually a pretty cool guy and it’s an asset to have him raising a glass to David Cameron. His buffoonery is what’s endearing about him. HENRY DACK SALES DIRECTOR Is he a laughable buffoon? Yes. I think he’s a help because he is very good at PR and [...]
Promotion for BAML banker Hume-Kendall October 9, 2012 RUPERT Hume-Kendall, one the most prolific dealmakers at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and short-listed for City A.M.’s investment banker of the year award, has just been promoted to a new position within the bank. He will now be chairman of global corporate and investment banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Hume-Kendall has advised [...]
Oligarchs could float TNK-BP if bid for BP stake is successful October 9, 2012 RUSSIAN conglomerate AAR is considering floating off part of TNK-BP if it buys out BP’s stake. It comes after AAR, controlled by four Russian billionaires, yesterday said it was considering disposing of its 50 per cent stake in the Russian oil company. It is understood that AAR’s notification to sell its stake is a way [...]
Hays: banking confidence is at rock bottom October 9, 2012 RECRUITMENT firm Hays said that banking confidence is at its lowest point the firm had seen in its 50-year history, as firms continue to delay hiring decisions in the face of ongoing Eurozone uncertainty. “Banking is at lowest confidence that we have ever seen and we have been doing recruitment from 1968,” group finance director [...]
