Companies hoard cash against growing market uncertainty July 8, 2012 EUROPE’S listed firms are sitting on £110bn, a new study reveals today, but are afraid to spend it in the uncertain economic environment. German firms hold the most, with liquid assets and cash totalling £25.88bn – an average of £195m for each of the 133 firms covered in the study from Company Watch. British hoards [...]
BRIC troubles scare markets July 8, 2012 INVESTORS have been pulling hundreds of millions of dollars out of stock funds that invest mainly in companies associated with the big four emerging market nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. But it’s China that is causing most of the worry for investors, amid signs that the world’s second-largest economy is slowing more sharply [...]
Fraud total down but computer crime is the new battleground July 8, 2012 FRAUD dropped massively in the first half of this year but worryingly is mainly perpetrated by management, says research released today by KPMG. Fraud figures fell from £1.1bn during the six months to June 2011 to just £374m in the same period this year – the lowest since the second half of 2006. Though this [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 8, 2012 Capita Insurance Services The specialist provider of Lloyd’s services has appointed John Holm as commercial director. He joins after five years at National Australia Bank, where he was insurance sector head and director of corporate banking for its Clydesdale Bank business. Holm previously held a number of senior roles at RBS, notably as director of [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 8, 2012 ICAP Numis has downgraded the interdealer broker from “buy” to “hold” and lowered its target price from 412p to 344p after a fall in electronic volumes over June and potential knock-on effects of the ongoing Libor scandal. The broker has downgraded its forecasts by four per cent for this year and five per cent next [...]
LONDON REPORT July 8, 2012 ALL eyes will be focused on the Treasury Select Committee hearing today, as deputy Bank of England governor Paul Tucker presents his side of the story in the Barclays/ Libor scandal. His appearance will be followed tomorrow by one from Marcus Agius, the former Barclays chairman. Today sees trading updates from housebuilder Bovis – expected [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 8, 2012 WALL Street has been running in circles for the past two months, and the pattern may continue despite the upcoming start of the earnings season. Quarterly report cards from blue-chips Alcoa and JPMorgan this week could fade into the background as traders jockey for position before key data from China and more central bank headlines. [...]
MF Global’s bankruptcy highlights perilous faults in UK finance rules July 8, 2012 LESSONS have been learned” is today’s platitude of choice. It was used to account for the failings that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers – an event that was meant to change everything. So it was with disbelief that I heard from a group of MF Global clients. MF Global was a derivatives broker [...]
Hollande is at risk of slaying France’s golden tax geese July 8, 2012 PRESIDENT François Hollande is only just settling into the Elysée, but ripples of unrest towards his tax policies are already being felt, both in France and further afield. The headline figure is the proposed 75 per cent rate of income tax, which will apply to income of over €1m (£793,000) a year. This will be [...]
Trust in the City is central to its ability to create jobs and foster growth July 8, 2012 OUR SUCCESS as a global financial centre depends on trust. Recent events have shaken that trust, and we must restore it. It is the responsibility of us all to make the case for the importance of the City to both the British economy and to other economies abroad, both now and in the future. It [...]
