Libor accused to wait until 2016 for fraud squad’s trial to begin July 21, 2014 THE SIX bankers accused of attempting to fiddle interest rate benchmark Libor will not know their fates for at least another two years, after a court hearing yesterday. The scandal broke more than two years ago when Barclays was fined over claims its staff tried to manipulate the rate. And six of its workers have been [...]
City Moves for 22 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 21, 2014 PwC George Stylianides has been appointed leader of PwC’s financial services risk and regulation practice. He is taking over from Julie Coates, who is returning to Australia after four years in the UK. Stylianides has over 25 years’ experience working in financial institutions. Natixis Global Asset Management The asset manager has announced four appointments to [...]
Fraud squad launches criminal probe into the UK’s foreign exchange market July 21, 2014 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened a full-blown criminal investigation into alleged price rigging in the UK's £3tn-a-day foreign exchange (forex) market, the regulator confirmed today. The probe will look at "fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market", according to an SFO statement. The claims centre around allegations that traders would manipulate the flow [...]
Exclusive: Barclays wants time to probe dark pool claims July 21, 2014 BARCLAYS may be forced to ask the US authorities for more time to look into allegations it misled investors using its dark pool trading platform, City A.M. understands. The British bank was accused last month of telling clients the private trading facility was safe from predatory operators like high frequency traders – but it is [...]
Silver for Barclays beach volleyball team as the City battles it out in the sunshine July 21, 2014 What better time to enjoy a corporate volleyball mash-up than the hottest day of the year? Friday saw teams from the likes of Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Linklaters and Fitch Ratings go up against each other on Action for Kids’ beach volleyball courts but victory was saved for the returning champions Reebok [...]
City Moves for 21 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 21, 2014 Laing O’Rourke The construction firm has announced the appointment of Paul Sheffield as managing director of its Europe hub. He joins after 31 years at Kier, where he was most recently chief executive. Sheffield is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. UBS Global Asset Management James Finch has been appointed head of global [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 July 2014 July 21, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BRITISH LAND COMPANY Barclays has maintained its “overweight” rating, increasing the target price to 936p from 695p. The broker believes that British Land’s underlying real estate values should continue to increase, with a spike in office rents, as well as a modest increase [...]
UK banks to face “in-depth” competition inquiry that could see major lenders broken up July 18, 2014 The UK's banking sector is set to face a fresh competition inquiry that could lead to sweeping changes across the industry with British lenders at risk of being broken up. As expected, in an initial into the industry published this morning, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided that there should be an "in-depth" [...]
Inside Track: Intelligent Energy deal hasn’t been looking too clever July 17, 2014 I was sitting with an investment banker from one of the City’s bulge bracket banks yesterday who was describing the performance of London’s new issues this year as “broadly positive”. Of course, this statement is true, as far as it goes. But there have been some well publicised cases, such as Saga and Card Factory, [...]
London Report: West’s sanctions on Russia and Malaysia jet crash hit FTSE July 17, 2014 BRITISH airline shares fell sharply yesterday on news that a Malaysian Airline Boeing 777 had been shot down over eastern Ukraine. The FTSE 100 finished 46.35 points down, or 0.68 per cent, on 6,738.32, while gold added $20 to $1,322 an ounce on increased tensions caused by the west’s tougher sanctions on Russia. British Airways [...]