Morgan Stanley ends Smith Barney September 25, 2012 Morgan Stanley yesterday renamed its wealth management business after buying out partner Citigroup, bringing to an end 200 years of trading under the Smith Barney name. The business, which manages $1.7 trillion in client assets, will be known simply as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, the firm said in a statement. Chief executive Jamie Gorman said [...]
Spotify swings to profit thanks to subscriptions September 25, 2012 SPOTIFY, the music streaming service headquartered in London, swung to its first profit last year as it signed up more users to monthly subscriptions and reduced its reliance on advertising. The privately-owned company, founded by Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek in 2006, saw a profit after tax of £21m in 2011, compared to the previous year’s [...]
Protests rage on Spanish streets over Rajoy’s cuts September 25, 2012 SPANISH protesters clashed with police in Madrid yesterday over a new round of austerity measures and tax rises, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy prepares to unveil a new budget tomorrow. Thousands of people gathered in the central Neptune plaza to form a human chain around parliament, with more than 1,500 riot police blocking access to [...]
Mayer stamps her authority on Yahoo by removing CFO Morse September 25, 2012 YAHOO’S new chief executive Marissa Mayer yesterday made her biggest mark on the troubled web company since joining in July, replacing chief financial officer Tim Morse with tech veteran Ken Goldman. Morse’s departure, which comes after three years at Yahoo, was announced after Mayer presented her strategy to turn the company around to employees last [...]
Hester: RBS is near to making a full recovery September 25, 2012 RBS could reward its investors with dividend payments soon, chief executive Stephen Hester said yesterday, telling investors the bank is well on the way to recovery. But the chief executive also warned that it will take “a lot of money” to rectify past mistakes. RBS is under investigation for Libor fixing, which could see it [...]
IMF mulls a global banking ringfence September 25, 2012 INCOMING regulations are not managing to end the “too big to fail” problem, and could even be giving the world’s largest banks an even more dominant position, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report warned yesterday. It also said that raising capital requirements against risky activities may be insufficient to have the impact regulators are looking [...]
UBS poaches Nomura exec September 25, 2012 SWISS bank UBS has hired Shaun Treacy from Nomuraas co-head of its all industries group in Asia, according to an internal memo. In June the bank appointed Nick Hassall as global head of its consumer products and retail group, moving him from Hong Kong to London to take advantage of non-Asian companies’ interest in the [...]
Lloyds leader cheers progress September 25, 2012 LLOYDS is on track to hit capital targets, has made solid progress on costs and has almost finished the lengthy process of reforming its funding profile, a confident Antonio Horta-Osorio said yesterday. The chief exec also pointed to its growing number of small business loans as evidence Lloyds is helping the economy in the downturn. [...]
Credit Suisse eyes shake-up September 25, 2012 CREDIT Suisse is reportedly preparing to dismantle its sub-scale asset management unit, integrating the business into its larger private bank and investment bank to clamp down on costs. The move is “a direct consequence” of Credit Suisse not being a major asset management firm, a source told Reuters. The Swiss bank’s asset management activities have [...]
StanChart stock dips after new sale rumours September 25, 2012 STANDARD Chartered’s share price tumbled yesterday on reports that a major shareholder is looking to sell out of the bank. The stock initially fell more than three per cent on speculation in the Financial Times that Singapore state investor Temasek may sell its 18 per cent stake in Standard Chartered, worth roughly £6.4bn. The price [...]
