Barclays appoints Matthew Ponsonby as new European M&A boss July 8, 2014 Barclays has shuffled its top dealmaking staff, naming Matthew Ponsonby has the new head of European mergers and acquisitions following the departure of Mark Warham. Ponsonby held the role as co-head until 2013 when he became chief operating officer for banking. Gary Posternack will be global head of M&A.
Diamond adds sparkle to Twitter July 7, 2014 The City’s Twitterati got quite the treat yesterday as it was joined by relative royalty. Bob Diamond swept into the Twittersphere, holding a big fish and adopting the handle @rediamondjr. Surely he hasn’t stepped down from his pedestal to walk among us in the squalid world of 140-character musings, we thought at first – but [...]
Ex-Barclays boss Bob Diamond joins Twitter July 7, 2014 Bob Diamond, the former boss of Barclays bank, has joined Twitter using the name @rediamondjr. The ex-Barclays chief, who departed the bank in 2012 amid the Libor scandal, has yet to tweet but is already following three people. Perhaps wanting to build a better relationship with the media that lay much of the blame for [...]
Dividend hike expected for FTSE 350 firms July 7, 2014 DIVIDENDS from FTSE 350 firms are projected to climb by £74.5bn this year, up 4.7 per cent, with an even larger increase expected for the year afterwards. A new forecast by Markit suggests that after a significant rise this year, dividends among the UK’s large listed firms will surge by nine per cent in the [...]
PokerStars boss David Baazov mulls secondary London listing July 7, 2014 The boss of the world’s biggest-listed online gambling group yesterday flagged his interest in a secondary listing in London or New York. David Baazov, chief executive and chairman of Canadian-quoted Amaya Gaming, said the business was plotting a dual listing in future. He added he was weighing floating shares either on the London Stock Exchange [...]
Gymbox raises £17m to finance expansion plans across the UK July 7, 2014 GYMBOX, the US-style fitness club chain that offers classes including Yoga Rave, has raised £17m to open more sites in the capital and expand into other UK cities. Business Growth Fund, an investment fund backed by the UK’s five largest banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered – is providing the money in [...]
Auditors want power to monitor firms’ culture as well as finances to avoid scandals July 6, 2014 Businesses should launch a full- scale review of their corporate cultures if they want to stop future crises and scandals taking place, the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA) said today. The audit industry should be given sweeping new powers covering behaviour in all parts of businesses, as well as the traditional role of monitoring [...]
London report: Housing data to show soaring market levelling July 6, 2014 Housing prices are likely to be in focus this week, as two surveys show prices are still rising, though the market is levelling off. The RICS survey, published today, is expected to show less growth than in past months. Barclays’ Armela Mancellari said: “We expect the overall balance to have edged down [...]
City of London recruitment drops despite UK job market boom July 5, 2014 Cost cutting at European and UK investment banks has led to a fall in new vacancies at the City of London, as the capital's financial district lags behind the country's recent roaring employment growth. The latest monthly analysis by international recruiter Astbury Marsden points to an 11 per cent drop in new vacancies at the City [...]
Customers complain after Barclays system failure July 4, 2014 This afternoon, customers of Barclays bank were unable to withdraw cash from machines or use their online banking service. The problem, which is thought to have arisen at around 3pm, has resulted in a surge of complaints on Twitter. In response, Barclays bank posted a tweet letting customers know that they were dealing [...]