Risky business: UBS warns that tax on billionaires will kill off risk appetite November 20, 2019 Billionaires will stop taking risks and sit on their money if they face blockbuster wealth taxes being proposed by left-wing politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, a top UBS banker for the super-rich has warned. Josef Stadler, who heads up the ultra high net worth division at the Swiss bank, has claimed that billionaires [...]
Swedbank rocked by ‘bombshell’ report on probe over possible US sanction violations November 20, 2019 Swedbank has been rocked this morning by reports that the group is under investigation for possibly breaching US sanctions. Swedish public broadcaster SVT is reporting that US authorities were probing whether the lender’s Baltic unit had breached sanctions against Russia. The group’s share price has slipped more than four per cent in morning trading. Read [...]
All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers cheers rise in profit amid food and drink demand November 20, 2019 All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers has toasted a rise in full-year profit as rising appetite for its food and drinks offset fears of a slowdown in the casual dining sector. Shares in the firm jumped seven per cent in early morning trading. Read more: UK retail sales unexpectedly fall as economy slows The [...]
HSBC investment banking boss to lose role in shake-up November 20, 2019 HSBC’s investment banking boss is reportedly set to be replaced as part of a shake-up under interim chief executive Noel Quinn. The lender’s head of global banking and markets Samir Assaf is to be moved to a non-executive role, according to the FT. Read more: Softbank in talks over KPMG’s private members club Assaf has [...]
Q&A: How would Labour’s plan to delist companies work? November 20, 2019 John McDonnell shocked the City once again yesterday after unveiling his latest plans to shake up the world of finance. The shadow chancellor, who revealed plans for “rewriting the rules” of business, said that firms which failed to take “adequate steps” to deal with climate change would be delisted from the London Stock Exchange. But [...]
Lloyd’s of London to put up posters in City pubs in bid to tackle culture problems November 19, 2019 Lloyd’s of London is targeting the insurance industry’s bustling pubs and cafes as part of a company campaign to tackle harassment and misconduct. The historic insurance marketplace will put up banners and posters around EC3 following a swathe of misconduct allegations that have rocked its reputation. Read more: Lloyd’s of London sets out electronic modernisation [...]
Negative interest rates help drive up demand for Swiss ski chalets November 19, 2019 Switzerland’s ultra-wealthy are snapping up ski chalets as a way of protecting their money against a backdrop of negative interest rates. As the skiing season draws near, rich Swiss residents are turning to Alpine resorts to store their capital rather than letting it depreciate in the bank. Read more: A trip inside the world’s slowest [...]
TSB IT meltdown: Former and current bosses criticise damning probe into online outages November 19, 2019 Past and present TSB bosses have criticised parts of a damning independent probe into the bank’s catastrophic IT meltdown last year. City law firm Slaughter and May has concluded that TSB’s board lacked “common sense” in the run-up to an IT outage which left 2m TSB customers without access to online banking. Both TSB and [...]
Dialight share price plunges as US-China trade war bites November 19, 2019 Shares in Dialight, the UK’s leading LED maker, crashed this morning as the firm warned that the full-year profit will be hit by the ongoing US-China trade war uncertainty. The LED lighting group’s share price plummeted 20 per cent to 240p in early morning trading after it said that early signs of recovery in the [...]
Happiness should play role in measuring growth, says CBI chief economist November 18, 2019 Britain’s financial system has long been viewed through the lens of output and productivity, but now the Confederation of British Industry is calling for a more unconventional way of measuring growth: happiness. The CBI’s chief economist said today that the government and businesses should take into account “much more holistic measures” than productivity levels when [...]
