After the Nvidelity comes the Huangover. Jensen Huang joins long list who confused boardroom and bedroom
The Big Short interview with director Adam McKay: “Outrage with banks comes naturally… they’re street hustlers” January 22, 2016 The Oscar-nominated director of financial film The Big Short, Adam McKay, wasn't afraid of throwing the cat among the pigeons when I caught up with him yesterday. On the eve of his latest film's release he launched a stinging attack on Wall Street, branding bankers “street hustlers” and labelling the SEC’s response to the crisis “disgusting”. [...]
City Moves for 22 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 22, 2016 RateSetter Marketplace lender RateSetter has appointed Paul Marston as head of SME lending and Angela Yotov as head of legal. Paul joins from Secure Trust Bank, a challenger bank, where he was managing director of the business and commercial division which provides funding for SMEs and property development loans. Prior to that he was a [...]
ECB chief Mario Draghi sends dove to tame bear market by hinting at ramp up of stimulus package January 22, 2016 Mario Draghi went some way to taming bear markets yesterday by hinting that the European Central Bank (ECB) will ramp up its trillion-euro stimulus package as soon as March. The ECB chief said that, with “downside risks” increasing, it will be “necessary to review and possibly reconsider our monetary policy stance at our next meeting”. The dovish [...]
Bank of England’s Martin Weale says wage growth is too slow for an interest rate hike January 21, 2016 Another member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee as flagged up slow wage growth as a reason they are likely to hold off on voting for an interest rate increase. "Whatever the causes of the recent weakness, inflation is unlikely to recover back to target without a marked improvement in wage growth," Martin Weale [...]
Mortgage lending hits post-recession high of £220bn in 2015 January 21, 2016 Mortgage lending rose by eight per cent last year compared with the year before, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said this morning. Lenders approved £19.9bn of home loans in December, taking the 2015 total to £220.3bn – the highest annual figure since 2008. December's lending figure was slightly down on November, but was 23 per [...]
Financial Reporting Council confirms plans to investigate KPMG over Hbos handling January 21, 2016 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has confirmed plans to launch an investigation into KPMG and its handling of Hbos’ accounts today. In a statement this morning, the regulator said it had asked its executive counsel to undertake preliminary enquiries under the accountancy scheme, the disciplinary scheme for members of the accounting profession. The FRC will examine [...]
City Moves for 21 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 21, 2016 Akin Gump International law firm Akin Gump has announced that Hamish Lal has joined the firm as a partner in its international arbitration practice in London. Hamish, who focuses on international construction arbitration in the oil, gas, nuclear, major projects and infrastructure sectors, joins Akin Gump from Jones Day. Hamish’s practice covers international construction arbitration [...]
Abolish bank deposit protection to make the banking system safer January 21, 2016 Deposit insurance has been the most sacrosanct component of the regulatory regime for banks since it was widely introduced during the 1970s following the collapse of the Bretton Woods regime. However, while it seeks to protect consumers against the undercapitalisation of banks and their tendency to collapse in times of stress, it has also encouraged [...]
Canadian dollar jumps as Bank of Canada holds fire on interest rates despite further fall in oil prices January 20, 2016 The Bank of Canada kept interest rates on hold today despite widespread expectations of a cut. The Canadian dollar, also called the loonie, rose 0.7 per cent against the US dollar. It now buys $0.6891. Interest rates were kept at 0.5 per cent, with the Canadian central bank confident that the economy would quickly adjust [...]
FTSE 100 index closes in a bear market as the price of oil falls further January 20, 2016 The FTSE 100 index officially fell into a bear market on Wednesday as the price of oil continued to slide. The UK's blue-chip index fell 3.46 per cent to 5,673 points, falling over 20 per cent from the high it reached in April 2015. "Few stocks were spared today as European equity markets plunged sharply today with the FTSE 100 [...]