Stock exchanges at loggerheads: HKEX and LSE refuse to budge over £32bn takeover offer September 24, 2019 Top bosses of the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges appeared to be at loggerheads today as both sides remained hesitant to budge over a £32bn tie-up. In a passionate plea to investors, Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEX) chief executive Charles Li said that a merging of the two sides would “complete each other”. [...]
Housing market uncertainty persists as property transactions remain flat September 24, 2019 Property transactions in August edged down slightly year-on-year, but buyers and sellers showed some signs of resilience despite the current Brexit uncertainty. There were 99,890 residential deals in August 2019, falling 0.9 per cent from last year but rising 15.8 per cent compared with the previous month, according to new HMRC data published today. Signs [...]
HSBC wins court fight as Euribor fine gets scrapped September 24, 2019 HSBC has won a £27.9m EU court fight over Euirbor rigging. Europe’s second highest court annulled the multi-million pound fine for “insufficient reasoning”, despite agreeing that HSBC had infringed the law. Read more: Metro Bank share price sinks The fine was slapped on HSBC by EU antitrust regulators in 2016 over rigging the Euribor financial [...]
Lloyd’s of London boss calls for end to daytime drinking in wake of damning harassment survey September 24, 2019 The boss of Lloyd’s of London’s warned insurers today to curb their daytime drinking habits or face being expelled from the insurance community. Chief executive John Neal told City A.M. that he did not think it was sensible for workers to drink a pint at lunchtime, calling on the industry to put an end to [...]
Wealthy families flock to safe assets as recession fears mount September 24, 2019 The world’s wealthiest families are increasingly flocking to safe assets amid fears of a market downturn next year. Executives at family offices are advising their rich clients to take cautious measures to safeguard against turbulence throughout the global economy in 2020. Read more: The UK leads the forex market Almost half of all family offices [...]
CBI survey: London remains attractive for business leaders but fears over future linger September 24, 2019 Over four in five firms see London as an attractive place for business leaders, according to new findings released today by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). But the CBI has also found that close to a third of the survey’s respondents feel there is potential for London’s position to weaken overall and in specific [...]
Lloyd’s of London braces itself for culture survey findings after months of pressure September 23, 2019 Lloyd’s of London is set to reveal the outcome of a sweeping company poll tomorrow following months of scrutiny over devastating misconduct allegations. The historic marketplace is hoping to turn a new leaf when it releases the results of a ‘culture survey’ alongside actions it will vow to take in the wake of recent criticisms. [...]
PureCircle share price plunges over audit issues September 23, 2019 Investors in sweetener firm PureCircle have been left with a sour taste in their mouth following several days of sharp falls in its share price. The food producer surprised the City late last week when it postponed its annual results and warned that auditing issues could cost it up to $30m (£24.15m). Read more: M&S [...]
Thomas Cook teeters on brink as eleventh hour talks look likely to end in failure September 22, 2019 Thomas Cook was close to collapsing into administration tonight as eleventh hour talks with its lenders looked set to end in failure. The company’s creditors and the government were tonight anticipating that the world’s oldest travel operator would announce it was ceasing trading tomorrow, Sky News reported. Big Four accountancy firm KPMG was tonight being [...]
Rose through the ranks: RBS picks lifer for top role September 22, 2019 It was was the worst kept secret in the Square Mile: on Friday morning Alison Rose was finally appointed as the new chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, but the only surprise was that the announcement did not come any sooner. RBS has insisted that it underwent a thorough job process which involved [...]
