Lax laundering controls cost Turkish Bank August 2, 2012 THE UK unit of Turkish Bank has been slapped with a £294,000 fine for breaching money laundering regulations, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said yesterday. Turkish Bank (UK), whose parent firm is established in Northern Cyprus, failed to put in place anti-money laundering safeguards when providing services for overseas financial institutions, despite warnings from the [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | CAN INVESTORS BANK ON A RECOVERY AT ROBERT WALTERS? August 2, 2012 ROBERT MORTON INVESTEC As expected, difficult trading conditions impacted significantly on the group in the first half and although gross profits were modestly ahead of last year – with all regions showing some growth – operating profits more than halved. We are not changing our forecasts or target price on the back of today’s results. [...]
Robert Walters profits drop as banking sector slowdown bites August 2, 2012 RECRUITER Robert Walters said pre-tax profits halved to £3.4m in the six months to the end of June, though its international presence helped boost revenues 14 per cent to £275m. Net fee income rose 3.7 per cent to £92.4m, helped by a five per cent rise in UK incomes to £23.9m. The firm has trimmed [...]
BNP ramps up capital ratio far ahead of target August 2, 2012 BNP PARIBAS announced surprisingly strong profits yesterday as spending cuts mitigated some of the damage caused by the sovereign debt crisis. The French bank also revealed plans to cut down its sovereign debt exposures as it has been burned by losses on European government bonds. Profits came in at €1.85bn (£1.45bn), down 13.2 per cent [...]
Eurozone must adapt or it will fall apart, warns top think-tank August 2, 2012 THE EUROZONE is likely to collapse within two years if countries in the bloc don’t take significant measures to increase fiscal, monetary and political union, an influential think-tank warned yesterday. Dawn Holland, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), said that the current situation could not carry on indefinitely, and that without [...]
New construction orders suffer second biggest drop since 2010 August 2, 2012 NEW CONSTRUCTION work collapsed in July, according to the latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey from Markit. The top line index – showing the overall state of the construction sector – crept up to 50.9, from 48.2 in June, above the no-change level of 50, but well below the long-run average of 54.2. And new [...]
KOFI ANNAN QUITS AS SYRIA’S PEACE ENVOY August 2, 2012 FORMER UN secretary-general Kofi Annan is quitting as peace envoy for Syria at the end of the month, frustrated by “finger-pointing” at the United Nations . As the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad becomes increasingly bloody, Annan’s troubled attempts to broker a ceasefire or an international response have left him exasperated.
Profits halve as RSA takes flood and quake hits August 2, 2012 RSA, Britain’s biggest commercial insurer, said yesterday its first-half profit fell by almost a quarter after heavy flooding in the UK and earthquakes in Italy triggered a surge of claims. RSA, best known for its More Than home and motor insurance business, made an operating profit of £316m in the first six months of 2012, [...]
Alliance Trust takes on £1.2bn of Aviva’s assets along with staff August 2, 2012 ALLIANCE Trust, one of Britain’s largest investment trusts, has signed a deal to acquire a portfolio of “socially responsible” funds from insurance group Aviva as it moves ahead with an overhaul of its businesses. Alliance Trust said yesterday its Alliance Trust Investments unit will pay £1m to take on £1.2bn of assets in Aviva Investors [...]
Thomas Cook’s new chief backs technology as path to recovery August 2, 2012 THOMAS Cook’s new chief executive yesterday said technology would be the salvation of the struggling British tour operator and gave herself nine months to deliver a turnaround plan to end over a year of poor performance. The company posted an underlying operating loss of £26.5m in the three months ended June, versus a profit of [...]
