PwC’s new leader of FS: ‘The outcome of Brexit on financial services is still unknown’ February 1, 2021 Last month Isabelle Jenkins was named the new leader of financial services at PwC UK, after spending 17 years as a partner at the firm. Jenkins replaced Andrew Kail, who held the role over the last four and a half years. In her first interview as leader of financial services at the Big Four firm, [...]
Exclusive: S&P Global lays off 700 staff following £33bn IHS takeover February 1, 2021 S&P Global Market Intelligence – the news and data division of credit ratings giant S&P Global – has laid off around 700 people in various offices around the world, including Canary Wharf, Hong Kong and New York City. City A.M. spoke with three London-based employees who confirmed that among the redundancies are S&P GMI’s consumer and [...]
Softbank-backed blank cheque firm eyes $200m stock market float January 29, 2021 A blank cheque firm backed by a top Softbank executive is looking to raise as much as $200m (£146m) in an initial public offering. LDH Growth Corp I, led by Softbank chief operating officer Marcelo Claure and controlled by an affiliate of the Japanese conglomerate, today said it planned to sell 20m shares units of [...]
LSE chief executive says ‘blank cheque’ companies could boost post-Brexit London January 29, 2021 London Stock Exchange Chief Executive David Schwimmer said today: “Britain should replicate New York’s success in listing “blank cheque” companies to boost the City of London’s attractiveness as a global financial centre after Brexit.” “SPACs clearly have taken off in the U.S. markets. There is increasing curiosity and potential interest in seeing more of them [...]
Drax boss: We need to go further on carbon storage to hit net-zero commitments January 29, 2021 Tackling climate change requires global collaboration. As a UK-US sustainable energy company, with communities on both sides of the Atlantic, we at Drax are keenly aware of the need for thinking that transcends countries and borders. Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of my native country at a crucial time, ensuring there is global leadership [...]
Elon Musk brands shorting stock a ‘scam’ following GameStop trading restrictions January 28, 2021 Redditors: We'll 'burn Robinhood to the ground' after Gamestop trading restricted
Striking a chord: How music rights firms serenaded the stock market January 23, 2021 Anyone who has the misfortune to monitor news updates on the London Stock Exchange will know the name Hipgnosis. Less than a month into 2021, the gauchely-named company has already issued nine wordy announcements. They are not, however, the usual trading updates or dry regulatory disclosures. Instead, Hipgnosis has been on a relentless acquisition spree [...]
London leads global finance rankings in new benchmarking research January 22, 2021 New figures published today [22 January] by the City of London Corporation, show that, London continues to hold the top spot for financial and professional services, when compared to other global destinations, including New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Frankfurt. The benchmarking research, entitled “Our global offer to business: London and the UK’s competitive strengths in [...]
Outgoing Trump official warns of China telecoms threat January 21, 2021 A top official in the departing Trump administration has issued a stark warning over the threat of Chinese espionage to US telecoms networks and internet freedom. Ajit Pai, who stepped down as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week, said Beijing-backed spying was the biggest threat to national security facing regulators over the [...]
Blackrock sells $200m China Telecom stake after US ban January 15, 2021 Blackrock has offloaded almost all of its stake in China Telecom at a significant discount following a new ban on US investment. China Telecom is one of a number of tech firms subject to a Trump administration executive order blocking American investors from owning companies deemed to have links with the Chinese military. The move [...]