From Building Public Trust to European Diversity, the award for night with most awards held goes to… October 2, 2014 There’ll be some sore heads and award-laden pockets around the City this morning as its firms were treated to a variety of award ceremonies last night. PwC’s Building Public Trust awards took place on Park Lane, where four gongs were handed out recognising excellence in corporate reporting (no more pertinent an award in light of [...]
City Moves for 03 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 2, 2014 JLL The real-estate focused professional services firm has announced three appointments to its UK workplace consultancy team. Trevor Alldridge (pictured) will head the team. He was previously managing director of AOS. John Symes joins as director of workplace strategy from AOS, where he was director of workplace strategy and project management for Europe, Middle East [...]
Why the public should condemn the next bank mega fine October 2, 2014 BARCLAYS was hit by another fine for misconduct last week, this time for £38m for failing to properly protect clients’ custody assets. Though dwarfed by other recent sanctions – notably Bank of America’s $16.65bn settlement for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities – it is another example of how banks’ shareholders are continuing to pay for executives’ misbehaviour. According [...]
Virgin Money advisers reject retail element in £2bn IPO October 1, 2014 Virgin Money, which is planning a London float that will value the challenger bank at between £1.5-2bn, has decided against offering the shares to the public despite some institutions and advisers pushing hard for this. Retail offers have been a rarity in the London market this year, despite the massive interest generated last year by [...]
Sainsbury’s new boss Mike Coupe blames “perfect storm” for sales drop October 1, 2014 Sainsbury's new chief executive said that a “perfect storm” of effects had plunged sales further into the red in the second quarter as the supermarket retailer cut its full-year sales forecast and warned that it might review its dividend. In his first official trading update since taking over from Justin King in July, Mike [...]
Adidas: Real Madrid did not sell 345,000 Rodriguez shirts in 48 hours October 1, 2014 Adidas has refuted reports that Real Madrid sold 345,000 James Rodriguez replica shirts within 48 hours of his official unveiling at the Bernabeu. After Los Blancos made the Colombian their latest "galactico" for a fee of £63m, it was widely reported that the club had sold an unprecedented number of shirts bearing the player’s [...]
Hikma Pharmaceuticals eyeing $1bn bid for US rival CorePharma September 28, 2014 HIKMA Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures generic pharmaceutical products, is reportedly looking at buying US-based rival CorePharma for up to $1bn (£615m). CorePharma, owned by private equity firm RoundTable Healthcare Partners, was reportedly put up for sale in August and Hikma is now one of a number of bidders for the firm, according to The Sunday Times. [...]
Lloyds settlement latest example of the shadow regulatory state September 28, 2014 The announced settlement between the American and British authorities and Lloyds Banking Group, in which the bank will pay almost $370m to US and UK authorities, is the latest major fallout from claims that multiple international banks profited by manipulating the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), a key financial benchmark embedded in contracts around the [...]
RAC float skids off the road as GIC buys stake September 25, 2014 PLANS for a £2bn float of RAC skidded off the road yesterday after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC agreed to buy a major stake in the firm from private equity owner Carlyle Group. The sudden turnaround will see GIC become joint majority shareholder of RAC together with Carlyle, and also means city heavyweight and CBI [...]
Longest serving bank boss exits September 25, 2014 RBS CHAIRMAN Sir Philip Hampton yesterday formally announced his planned move to become chairman of GlaxoSmithKlein. He will make the move in early 2015 when a successor is found – among the front-runners is thought to be Lord Myners, the former City minister under Gordon Brown through the financial crisis. Hampton will become a non-executive director [...]