London will retain financial firepower even in ‘worst possible’ Brexit, says Central Bank of Ireland August 8, 2019 London is likely to remain a leading global financial centre even in the most adverse Brexit scenarios, the Central Bank of Ireland has concluded in a new report. The EU-based Central Bank has said that even in the worst possible outcome of Britain’s departure from the EU, the impact on the capital’s financial and related professional [...]
New head of global commercial banking at HSBC after top-level reshuffle August 8, 2019 HSBC has promoted Barry O’Byrne to head up the lender’s global commercial banking arm as its previous boss takes the reins as interim chief executive of the company. Read more: Co-op bank narrows losses O’Byrne is taking on the interim role as part of a top-level reshuffle that involved Noel Quinn, HSBC’s former chief executive [...]
Insurer Zurich expects to beat targets as profits jump August 8, 2019 Zurich Insurance Group hailed its best performance in a decade this morning after reporting a double-digit rise in profits and predicting that it would beat previous financial goals it had set. Read more: Aviva confirms strategic review of Asia Europe’s fifth largest insurer reported business operating profits of $2.8bn (£2.3bn) in the first six months [...]
Uncertainty hits UK jobs market as hiring wanes August 8, 2019 Hiring remained subdued last month, as ongoing political and economy uncertainty continued to cast a cloud over the UK’s job market. Permanent staff appointments tumbled for the fifth consecutive month in July. Read more: US employment reaches new high The rate of growth in starting salaries awarded to newly placed permanent staff also slumped to [...]
Ineos on the hunt for new auditor after dropping PwC in wake of tax fallout August 7, 2019 UK energy giant Ineos is reportedly dropping PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as its auditor amid speculation of a major tax row between the two sides. Ineos, which is owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, is on the hunt for a new accountancy group to replace the big four beancounter, according to Sky News. Read more: Ineos plans [...]
Unicredit cuts 2019 revenue guidance despite profit jump August 7, 2019 Unicredit slashed its revenue target for the full-year this morning, as interest rate headwinds and a global slowdown takes its toll on Italy’s largest bank. Revenue guidance for the year has been cut to €18.7bn (£17.2bn), falling from a previous estimate of €19.8bn. Read more: Commerzbank now warns its 2019 profit target looks ambitious UniCredit [...]
Over 5m savers at risk from pension scams August 7, 2019 More than 5m pension savers across the UK are at risk from common scamming tactics, underlining current concerns over fraudsters targeting people’s retirement cash pots. A new report from two of Britain’s top financial bodies has found that 42 per cent of pension savers, which equates to over 5m people, could be in danger of [...]
UK M&A deal values more than halve as global tensions take their toll August 6, 2019 The value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in Europe slumped during the first six months of 2019, as geopolitical concerns took their toll on the continent’s financial services industry. In the UK investors completed 97 deals totalling £6.3bn over the first half of 2019, plunging by more than half from £13.5bn when 103 deals [...]
Neil Woodford offloads stake in Eurocell amid fire sale August 6, 2019 Neil Woodford has sold off his entire stake in Eurocell as the under-fire stockpicker battles to shore up the health of his own troubled equity income fund. The former star investor dropped his 16 per cent holding in the plastic window and door firm Eurocell last week, ramping up his fire sale after a torrid [...]
Easyjet caught up in Twitter storm over backless seats claims August 6, 2019 Easyjet has come under fire this morning over a picture that emerged on social media of a backless seat on one of its planes. The airline has denied claims that it has allowed passengers to use the backless seats following an image of a woman sitting on a chair without any back. Read more: Eurostar [...]
