CITY VIEWS: DO YOU EXPECT MORE BRITISH COMPANIES TO BE ACQUIRED BY FOREIGN PREDATORS? September 1, 2010 MARK SEGELOV | QUANTAINIA “If Britain wants to operate in a global market it is going to have to expect more takeovers by foreign companies, and there will be more. But Britain has to also make sure that it takes the opportunity to buy up companies in other countries.” DAVOR LALIC | WILLIS “There will [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 31, 2010 Russell-Cooke LLP The London law firm has continued its expansion by hiring Edward Wanambwa as employment partner. He joins from CM Murray LLP, having trained at Bryan Cave and previously worked at Clifford Chance. He has been tasked with building the firm’s business immigration practice, having worked on immigration issues throughout his career. This brings [...]
CITY CRIMS REFUSE TO STEAL BIKES ON DEMAND August 30, 2010 BETWEEN BoJo’s bikes and the craze for cycling to work, two wheels are very much in vogue. So it makes sense to take out insurance for your new mode of transport, right? Wrong. Not if a new campaign by insurer Aviva is anything to go by. Britain’s biggest insurer was so sure it was offering [...]
Chiefs tighten up blood injury rules August 26, 2010 TOP-FLIGHT chiefs are convinced there will be no a repeat of the Bloodgate scandal that shamed the sport after tightening up regulations for the new season. Aviva Premiership rules set to come into effect mean doctors from the opposing team will have the right to demand a look at any blood injury they suspect to [...]
ABI struggles to save UK insurers from US rules August 25, 2010 UK life insurers could be hit with tens of millions of pounds of costs if they are forced to comply with tough regulations on tax evasion being drafted by US authorities. Companies such as Aviva, Old Mutual and Prudential would be forced to report the tax details of their US account holders every year under [...]
M&A activity saves FTSE from fourth day of losses but volumes remain thin August 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended a three-session losing run yesterday, helped by a spate of corporate takeover activity, though trading was thin. HSBC said it was in talks to buy up to 70 per cent in South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, Nedbank, in which insurer Old Mutual has a controlling stake. HSBC added 0.8 per cent [...]
RSA bid for Aviva units “not dead” August 20, 2010 IGNIS Asset Management, an institutional shareholder in both Aviva and RSA, said a deal between the two insurers remained possible although RSA would have to raise its bid proposal for some Aviva units. Ignis owns roughly 0.5 per cent of Aviva’s share capital and around 1.5 per cent of RSA’s share capital. RSA said it [...]
Expect to pay £8bn for Aviva’s general arm, UBS warns RSA August 18, 2010 RSA Insurance would have to crank up its offer for Aviva’s general insurance business by nearly two thirds to win the backing of the larger company’s shareholders, a UBS analyst said yesterday. UBS put the highest valuation yet on Aviva’s casualty and property operations in the UK, Ireland and Canada, suggesting RSA would have to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CRIMINAL GANGS TARGET INSIDER DEALING Organised criminals in the UK are becoming increasingly involved in financial frauds including insider share dealing that they see as lucrative and low risk, investigators have warned. A long-term trend of prosecutions in the US has shown the same shift by crime gangs to more sophisticated frauds. FUNDING [...]
Banks and miners push FTSE to its highest close in a week August 17, 2010 FINANCIAL stocks and commodity companies pushed Britain’s top share index up for a third session by the close on Tuesday, as fears about a global economic slowdown abated and raw material prices gained. The FTSE 100 ended up 74.45 points, or 1.4 per cent, at 5,350.55, its highest close in a week. Miners were firmer, [...]