City moves for 14 January – who’s switching jobs at Robeco, Greenberg Traurig and Aminex? January 14, 2019 Who’s moving roles today? Robeco Robeco, the pure-play international asset manager, has appointed two senior members to its global fixed income macro team. Jamie Stuttard joined the team as co-head of the global fixed income macro team and fixed income strategist. Regina Borromeo (pictured) joined the team as portfolio manager. Jamie will co-manage Robeco’s global total [...]
London venture capital firm Beringea heads up north with £9m fintech injection January 13, 2019 London-based venture capital firm Beringea has expanded its UK presence with an office based in Manchester, the firm will announce today. It has also led a £9m fundraising round in Mancunian fintech firm Accesspay, which it said was one of the region’s largest fintech rounds to date. Based in the northern city centre's St Peter's [...]
Activist shareholders step up pressure on UK boards January 13, 2019 Shareholder activism increased sharply in the UK last year as investors launched campaigns at 25 companies, spending $7.35bn (£5.72bn) on shares. Elliott Advisors was the most prolific activist investor, launching 22 new campaigns worldwide, according to research by the investment bank Lazard. Elliott led a campaign that prompted UK retailer Whitbread to offload Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola [...]
Government considers ban on credit card gambling in bid to tackle addiction January 12, 2019 The government is considering a ban on the use of credit cards for gambling as part of a wider crackdown aimed at tackling betting addiction. The culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, has called on retail banks and bookmakers to meet to discuss the issue of people betting with money they do not have. The statement comes [...]
Flybe shares in turmoil as Virgin-led consortium makes cut-price offer for struggling airline January 11, 2019 Struggling airline Flybe is set to be picked up in a basement bargain deal from a Virgin-led consortium that values the budget business at just £2.2m. Shares were sent crashing 80 per cent this morning on news of the offer from Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation and US private equity firm Cyrus Capital Partners, which will leave [...]
Mark Kleinman’s big predictions for the Square Mile in 2019 January 11, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP exit, Unilever’s HQ U-turn, Melrose’s swoop for GKN: 2018 was a year full of surprises in the City. And while forecasting might be a fool’s errand, here are 10 predictions for the year ahead. •Theresa May will decisively lose next week’s “meaningful vote” on Brexit: that’s not a punt that will [...]
City firms draft in extra staff for crunch Brexit deal vote in preparation for market volatility and investor calls January 11, 2019 The City is bracing itself for next week’s crunch vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal with banks drafting in extra staff to work through the night responding to market volatility and investor calls. MPs will finally vote on the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement on Tuesday after a month's delay, with traders, investors and analysts on [...]
UK banks ‘robust’ enough to cope with no-deal Brexit, S&P Global says January 10, 2019 The UK’s major banks are robust enough to cope with a no-deal Brexit but the sector’s outlook for 2019 will hinge on Britain’s exit from the EU, S&P Global Ratings has said. The financial services firm issued a “broadly stable” rating on the UK banking system but said that view was based on an orderly [...]
Tesco works on stockpiling arrangements in Brexit contingency plans January 10, 2019 Tesco is making arrangements to stockpile goods as part of the supermarket’s Brexit contingency planning, the UK's biggest supermarket confirmed today. The UK’s biggest retailer is working with suppliers to devise plans to hold stock closer to the market, and said that sensible contingency plans are in place. Read more: Tesco sees like-for-like sales boost in [...]
Fintech unicorn Monzo to appoint former Northern Rock boss to banking board January 8, 2019 Digital bank Monzo has appointed the former head of failed bank Northern Rock to its board, as the startup aims for growth in 2019. The fintech firm is to announce Gary Hoffman as its non-executive chairman tomorrow, as first reported by Sky News, replacing Baroness Kingsmill who has chaired Monzo since 2015. Hoffman will bring [...]