Marsh chief exec reveals details of its £295m purchase of Bluefin from Axa November 14, 2016 US insurance broking giant Marsh said that the Brexit vote had no bearing on its £295m purchase of UK small business specialist Bluefin. The deal, announced earlier today, means that Bluefin’s 1,500 staff across 45 offices will move from the Axa umbrella to the subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies. Speaking to City A.M., Marsh chief exec Mark [...]
Most fintech employees don’t value diversity in the workplace November 14, 2016 Fintech might be shaking up the financial industry with disruptive innovation, but new research suggests it hasn’t been so ahead of the crowd on diversity in the workplace. In fact fintech employees place the lowest value on diversity in the workplace of all financial services workers, according to recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. The survey of [...]
British entrepreneurs enjoyed a five-year high in opportunities ahead of the EU referendum November 14, 2016 Britain enjoyed a five-year high in opportunities for entrepreneurs leading up to the EU referendum in June, but that progress is at risk of being set back by current uncertainty. According to Barclays' Entrepreneurs Index, overall UK entrepreneurial performance is at an all-time high – up 10 per cent since 2011 and showing strong progress [...]
Blackstone-backed retailer faces testing negotiations with lenders after annual earnings are slashed November 13, 2016 Outdoor clothing retailer Jack Wolfskin has gone cap in hand to its lenders after revealing annual earnings have halved and forecast earnings will be less than previously expected. The German-based company was saddled with €485m (£418m) of debt facilities, when current owners Blackstone, a private equity firm, bought it in 2011. The debt in the business now totals €365m. [...]
City Moves for 11 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 11, 2016 SETL SETL, the London based financial blockchain specialist, has appointed national security expert Martin Clements to its board. SETL was launched in July 2015 to deploy a multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology. Martin joins the SETL board having recently retired from his role as director general responsible for technology and [...]
Bank shares tanked on Donald Trump’s triumph November 9, 2016 Banks' shareholders were clearly less than thrilled about who won the race to the White House this morning, but are learning to live with it this afternoon. After dipping initially this morning, shares for the big banks listed in London have now recovered. Shares in HSBC are currently up 0.1 per cent at 620.6p, Lloyds Banking Group [...]
Barclays is selling its Irish insurance unit, as it continues to ditch its non-core business November 8, 2016 Barclays announced today it has agreed to sell its Irish insurance business, marking the latest step in a long journey to scale back its non-core business. The bank will sell Barclays Insurance (Dublin) Designated Activity Company and Barclays Assurance (Dublin) Designated Activity Company to Monument Re for an undisclosed sum and the deal is expected to [...]
Meet the 18 companies joining the FCA’s regulatory sandbox November 7, 2016 The UK's foward-thinking financial regulator has chosen 18 companies to participate in its so-called regulatory sandbox, where they will be able to test out new technologies without breaching rules. Launched over the summer, the sandbox is designed to foster fintech innovation while remaining under the supervisory eye of the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. Read more: [...]
HSBC’s shares rise four per cent despite larger-than-expected profit slump after Brazil disposal November 7, 2016 HSBC's share price rose by more than four per cent this morning, despite a sharper-than-expected slump in profits in the third quarter – although stripping out currency fluctuations, things looked rather better… The figures Pre-tax profit at the British lender fell 86 per cent to $843m in the quarter ended 30 September, down from $6.1bn in [...]
IG Group boss joins fintech startup board November 7, 2016 A top boss at spreadbetter IG Group has joined the board of a startup opening up high level investments to individual private investors. Ian Peacock, head of UK and Ireland at the FTSE 250 firm, will join the advisory board of CoInvestor, an alternative investment platform which lets investors put their cash into assets usually reserved for institutional investors. The six [...]