New CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn says group will listen to Eurosceptic members November 16, 2015 The new Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Carolyn Fairbairn has defended the business group’s stance on Britain’s relationship with the EU. “Most of our members want to be in a reformed EU because of the benefits of the Single Market and the CBI is clear on what those reforms are – developing the Single [...]
Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters buys another £1m in bank’s shares November 15, 2015 Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters is putting his money where his mouth is – by buying another £1m worth of his shares in his struggling company. Winters, a former JP Morgan investment banker who took over from the Asia-facing bank's previous chief executive Peter Sands in June, acquired 168,000 shares at 599 pence each, increasing the [...]
British Bankers’ Association: London is losing its edge as a financial centre November 13, 2015 London is losing its edge as an international banking centre, a new report out today has warned, saying that “urgent action is needed if the UK is to remain an attractive location for foreign banks and provide a competitive business environment for UK wholesale banks to challenge overseas”. The report, produced by the British Bankers’ [...]
New survey finds more teenagers in London want to work in banking and financial services November 13, 2015 Teenagers are increasingly likely to want to work in financial services, according to a new poll from Skills London, a career expo for students. The survey found that banking was the fourth most-popular career choice among 16-year-olds, trailing only medicine, teaching and law. In the same poll last year, banking failed to make the top [...]
MPs call Kids Company’s grip on government “staggering” and warn it “must never happen again” November 13, 2015 An influential parliamentary committee has slammed the government over its relationship with Kids Company and warned that similar cases “must never happen again”. In a new report out today, the Public Accounts Committee says it is “staggering” that the government gave over £40m to the charity over the past 13 years and “still has no [...]
EU referendum: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says UK is India’s entry point into the EU November 12, 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seemingly backed Britain's membership in the European Union, telling reporters this afternoon that the UK is India's "entry point into the EU". "Yes, there will be a referendum in the UK after two years. I believe that the citizens of this country are very intelligent and wise. I have nothing [...]
RBS says it is cutting investment bank costs by another £2bn November 12, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) set out plans today to cut costs in its corporate and institutional banking (CIB) business by about £2bn over the next three years as part of a wider strategy to reduce the size of the division. RBS said in a presentation this afternoon it expects annual revenues in its CIB business [...]
Deutsche Bank puts in place new management team for investment bank November 12, 2015 Deutsche Bank announced a new slate of top jobs this morning, naming a string of appointments to its corporate and investment bank (CIB) as part of the bank's strategic overhaul, first announced last month. The bank's new co-chief executive John Cryan said last month that he was dividing Deutsche's investment bank into two parts, with one focused [...]
New Policy Exchange report: Tweaking Whitehall HR system could save taxpayer £1bn November 12, 2015 Cutting government spending on contractors by just 20 per cent could save the taxpayer over £1bn, according to a new report out today from a Westminster think tank. The report from Policy Exchange says that the amount of money government departments spend on external contractors has risen significantly in recent years, from £610m in 2011/2012 [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron calls two-day visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “historic opportunity” November 12, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron has called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to the UK today an “historic opportunity” for the relationship between Britain and India, signalling billions of pounds of deals and other financial partnerships. Modi is in Britain for a two-day visit which will today include one-on-one talks with Cameron at [...]
