Schroders confirms £360m Greencoat Capital deal in sustainable finance push December 21, 2021 Schroders has confirmed this morning that it will buy a majority stake in Greencoat Capital, for £358m. The deal, rumoured to be underway last week, will see £6.7bn assets under management be brought under Schroders’ wing. Shares lifted nearly three per cent to 3,474p per share this morning. London-headquartered Schroders’ majority share will account for [...]
City of London Group’s SME bank receives over £1bn in lending proposals December 21, 2021 The City of London Group’s SME bank has already received more than £1bn worth of lending proposals, as the capital calls for more pandemic support. It comes a year after Recognise Bank launched operations, the Group said today in its unaudited interim results for the six months to September 30. The bank, which because fully [...]
UK hits highest borrowing to GDP ratio since the 60s December 21, 2021 The UK borrowed a further £17.4bn in November, bringing the overall borrowing to GDP ratio to levels not seen since the 1960s. Net debt now sits at 2,317bn, around 96.1 per cent of GDP. While it is around £5bn less than November last year, the figure is also the second-highest November borrowing on record, the [...]
Johnson Matthey kicks off £200m buyback in bid for extra capital December 21, 2021 Johnson Matthey £200m share buyback programme will kick off today, as the chemicals giant looks to pool extra capital. The first part of the scheme, managed by Citigroup, will seek to raise £100m between today and March next year. The maximum number of shares Johnson Matthey is looking to shed under the programme is 19.3m. [...]
Juukan Gorge controversy: Rio Tinto hires new chair in leadership overhaul December 20, 2021 Rio Tinto has appointed a new chair, which forms part of the miner’s board overhaul this year following the Juukan Gorge controversy. Incoming chair Dominic Barton will join the board in April, and be appointed to role at its annual shareholder meeting a month later after spending three decades at the consultancy heavyweight McKinsey & [...]
Market share battle: BNP Paribas to ditch US unit for more than $16bn December 20, 2021 BNP Paribas is set to sell off its US unit for $16.3bn, after battling for a share of the region’s retail banking market. Shares inched 0.9 per cent higher to 56.6p per share near market close. The deal with BMO Financial Group for BNP Paribas’ Bank of the West is expected to bolster BMO’s position [...]
Global foreign ministers express ‘grave concern’ over Hong Kong election December 20, 2021 Global foreign ministers have today expressed their “grave concern” over the Hong Kong election which saw pro-Beijing candidates dominate. In a joint statement, foreign minister Liz Truss, alongside her Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and US counterpart, added that Hong Kong’s electoral system overhaul has “eliminated any meaningful political opposition”. The election had already seen a [...]
Covid-19: Moderna booster strengthens antibodies to combat Omicron December 20, 2021 Moderna’s booster vaccine significantly strengthens the level of antibodies that can combat the Omicron variant, the pharmaceutical giant said today. It comes as the new strain of Covid-19 shows signs of slowing in some countries, including South Africa. “The dramatic increase in Covid-19 cases from the Omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data [...]
Frost could not support Plan B restrictions, he says after quitting as Brexit minister December 20, 2021 Lord Frost could not support the government’s Plan B policy, he said today, after quitting as Brexit minister over the weekend. “I left the government, as I think is well known, because I couldn’t support certain policies, most recently on Covid restrictions and ‘plan B’,” said Frost. “I don’t support coercive policies on Covid. The [...]
Lockdown: Downing Street garden photo was a ‘work meeting’, says No 10 December 20, 2021 A photo of Boris Johnson with more than a dozen people with wine and cheese in Downing Street’s garden last May has been called a “work meeting” by No 10. The image, first published by the Guardian, shows the prime minister with his wife and 17 other staff members at a time when there were [...]