Regulators to probe oil price fixing claims September 13, 2012 OIL traders will face a probe from UK regulators over claims market prices are being manipulated to keep them artificially high, a government minister said yesterday. In an echo of the Libor fixing scandal, energy minister John Hayes said he would write to the Financial Services Authority to raise concerns that traders and speculators were [...]
IMA appoints four leading fund managers in shake up of board September 13, 2012 ANDREW Formica, head of Henderson Global Investors, is one of four new appointments to the board of the Investment Management Association (IMA), the industry trade body confirmed yesterday. He will be joined by Mark Zinkula, chief executive of Legal & General Investment Management, Hugh Mullan, UK managing director of Fidelity Worldwide Investment, and Andrew Laing, [...]
Russian health group eyes IPO health IPO September 13, 2012 MD MEDICAL Group, a major Russian private healthcare provider, is planning an initial public offering of shares in London and has picked JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank to arrange the issue. MDMG, which could become the first Russian company in the sector to go public in London, was set up in 2010 and is controlled [...]
Brit Insurance set to rebrand September 13, 2012 BRIT Insurance, the sponsor of the England cricket team, is preparing to launch a major rebranding exercise, City A.M. has learned. It will complete a transformation that has seen parent company Brit Group dispose of its non-core UK business and agreed to sell Brit Insurance Limited, its legacy business, for £190m. Brit will instead focus [...]
UK revs up Ferrari sports cars purchases September 13, 2012 SALES of Ferrari sports cars soared 43 per cent in the UK this year, helping Ferrari post record breaking profits yesterday. The company sold 393 sports cars in the UK in the first half of the year, helping boost its net profits by ten per cent to €100.8m (£81m). The UK topped sales growth in [...]
HSBC appoints new UK leader September 13, 2012 EUROPEAN retail and wealth management boss Antonio Simoes has been appointed as HSBC’s UK head and deputy chief executive, the bank announced yesterday. Joe Garner is leaving the post after less than two years in the job, and will leave the bank early next year. Simoes takes on the retail and business banking role on [...]
Lloyds plans early intervention for struggling SME borrowers September 13, 2012 SMALL firms which are struggling to grow will be offered guidance on how to improve by Lloyds, the bank announced yesterday. Lloyds was forced to step up debt restructurings in the recession as firms failed to pay their bills. But now the bank hopes earlier intervention can help firms grow and avoid restructurings down the [...]
MPs pledge to get tough on HBOS review September 13, 2012 THE NEW review into the failure of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) will face an additional hurdle in the form of an independent adviser appointed by a committee of MPs, it was announced yesterday. The Financial Services Authority fined former HBOS executive Peter Cummings £500,000 on Wednesday, banning him for life from working in the [...]
Barclays pay will be based on good behaviour September 13, 2012 NEW CHIEF executive Antony Jenkins yesterday told staff that every individual in the bank would be assessed to ensure they are keeping up with the cultural reforms that he is pushing through. The move is part of a wide-ranging push to repair Barclays’ damaged image after the Libor-rigging scandal. The reforms will include the introduction [...]
Five years on from the run on northern rock, what are your memories of that day? September 13, 2012 HARRY EDWARDS | ACE GROUP It was a shock as it was the first bank to go under in the UK. At the time I didn’t think it was possible. CHRISTOPHER COUTINHO | BSE The scale of the crisis showed how little control the banks had over it. There were no measures in place and [...]
