All can fail: my new manifesto for the banks January 25, 2010 REGULAR readers of this column will know that I am no fan of many of the proposals being cooked up to reform the banks. I have opposed Barack Obama’s plan to ban retail banks from engaging in proprietary trading; George Osborne’s support of Glass-Steagall, which would break up commercial and investment banks; and Alistair Darling’s [...]
Golden oldies can offer the City a wealth of experience January 25, 2010 YESTERDAY, the actress Jane Fonda announced that she is to film a new workout video at the age of 72, 30 years and one hip replacement after the video that made her a global star. In the world of business too, oldies are still going strong. Warren Buffett – who will be 80 in August [...]
The government should learn from entrepreneurs December 14, 2009 REGARDLESS of their social class, the thing that unites most of the people that I work with is the aspiration to use their lives to build something amazing. Many of the people I deal with have significantly improved their lives through sharp focus, incredible hard work, and the application of their intelligence, energy, personal charm [...]
EU’s power grab is a disaster for London December 2, 2009 FIRST they came for the hedge funds, then private equity – now it is the turn of the banks, the securities industry and the insurers. The EU’s power grab is almost complete; it is pumping out new proposals on everything from derivatives to asset management virtually every day. The fact that most of these are [...]
The City lawyer who argues that banking has become even riskier November 4, 2009 T o David Morley, the phrase “it is better to travel than to arrive” must sound pretty strange, an expression invented only for those unfortunate souls who have not learnt to move at speed. For Morley, who joined top law firm Allen & Overy in 1980 and has led it as senior partner since last [...]
A new Glass-Steagall Act wouldn’t work October 20, 2009 WHEN the Governor of the Bank of England – and if the Tories are elected, the next chief financial regulator – calls for investment banks to be separated from retail banks, everybody should sit up and listen carefully. King seems deadly serious, and George Osborne said last night that he agreed with much of the [...]
City lives in Bruce Wasserstein’s shadow October 14, 2009 ANYBODY who really wants to understand today’s City of London – its culture, its customs and its personalities – needs to acquaint themselves with the life of Bruce Wasserstein, one of the greatest corporate financiers of all time who died last night at the cruelly premature age of 61. He was, of course, a New [...]
RBS APPEASES TAXPAYING PUBLIC BY BRINGING OUT ARTISTIC GEMS October 12, 2009 AFTER being lambasted in recent months by angry taxpayers-cum-stakeholders baying for blood, it appears that the Royal Bank of Scotland is finally about to give something back. The bank – which is thought to own the largest collection of corporate art in Britain, with over 2,200 pieces – is in talks with museums and collectors [...]
Tories detail plans for later retirement October 6, 2009 THE TORY party softened its stance on bringing forward planned rises to the state retirement age yesterday, while the City attacked the cost-cutting plan as insufficient. Shadow chancellor George Osborne addressed the party faithful in Manchester, setting out his proposed measures to tackle what he calls “Labour’s debt crisis”. He confirmed plans, leaked on Monday [...]
Britain’s bosses want to charge students more September 21, 2009 THE CBI yesterday called for students to pay more towards the cost of university, including increased tuition fees and higher student loan interest rates. The CBI also called for cuts to grants and said the savings were necessary to tackle the funding crisis in the higher education sector which it said had been thrown into [...]