Rio Tinto appoints a new legal chief after Guinea payments probe sacking March 3, 2017 Rio Tinto has appointed Philip Richards as group chief of legal to replace Debra Valentine, who was removed in November due to a payments probe related to mining rights in Guinea. The company sacked Valentine and former chief executive of energy and minerals Alan Davis for having "failed to maintain the standards expected of them" under Rio [...]
The cost of talent and housing threaten London’s digital crown March 2, 2017 The government yesterday unveiled its digital strategy – an action plan for growing the digital economy and making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business. This ambition is undoubtedly very welcome. London is already the best place in Europe for digital startups and scaleups, boasting excellent access [...]
The government’s tapping up Lloyds, Barclays and Google for digital skills March 1, 2017 The government is turning to private business, including Lloyds, Barclays and Google, to help the UK become skilled for the modern age with ambitious new plans. It has announced partnerships with the well known institutions to offer training in digital across the UK, to push forward the country's march towards a digital economy, putting these skills on a par with literacy [...]
Virgin Money chief exec Jayne-Anne Gadhia: Brexit made us shelf plans for small business banking, but it might have worked out in our favour February 28, 2017 A series of unforeseen events means Virgin Money might be better off after having to drop a deal to go into small business banking because of Brexit. The challenger bank had been due to acquire an asset finance business, which would have allowed it to expand its offering into small business banking, but changed its [...]
Fraud squad lawyer tells court two ex-Barclays traders accused of Libor rigging treated honesty as if it were expendable February 28, 2017 A lawyer acting for the fraud squad told a court today that two ex-Barclays traders accused of Libor rigging treated honesty as if it were expendable. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which is prosecuting the case, has claimed Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, and Ryan Reich, 35, played roles in a conspiracy to fix the benchmark rate between 1 June [...]
Transitional arrangements after Brexit could take 18 months or more, says Charlotte Hogg, the new Bank of England deputy governor February 28, 2017 The Bank of England (BoE)'s new deputy governor Charlotte Hogg today said UK banks will need 12 to 18 months at least to make transitional arrangements after certainty on Brexit negotiations is reached. Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, Hogg said banks will need additional time after the two-year negotiations are reached to change their business models in terms [...]
Blockchain for banks is a “long way off” says influential central banker February 27, 2017 Blockchain fintech has a “long way to go” to satisfy financial regulators, according to an influential board member of the European Central Bank (ECB). Benoit Coeure said the underlying distributed ledger technology could pose new risks to the financial system, including legal and operational obstacles. Coeure said: “Distributed technology could become a game-changer for payment, [...]
Tandem Bank’s chief executive Ricky Knox talks sarongs, dumb pipes, ornithology and why Facebook is scared of banking February 27, 2017 "Would you have called Amazon? I didn’t! We all thought that was just a fad – it was a bookseller. An online bookseller with that valuation? But the internet creates these giants – and it’s not just one or two of them. "Look at music – EMI is basically dead. Google – a little bulls*** [...]
City Moves for 27 February 2017 – who’s switching jobs? February 27, 2017 Today's City Moves cover legal eagles, market strategy and insurance. Take a look at these movers and shakers: Dorsey & Whitney LLP Employment law specialist Bob Cordran has joined international law firm Dorsey & Whitney’s London office as a partner. Bob, formerly a partner at Marriott Harrison LLP, is an experienced employment lawyer who has [...]
UK banks’ bonus pools have shrunk five per cent over the last year, but bosses’ handouts are on the rise February 26, 2017 Bonus pools at the UK's big five banks have shrunk five per cent in the last year, but handouts to bosses have almost doubled in the same space of time. The total bonus pool for HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Standard Chartered and Barclays fell to around £5.6bn for 2016, compared with around £5.9bn in [...]