Former Barclays traders charged in Libor probe February 17, 2014 THREE ex-Barclays traders were charged in relation to the fraud squad’s Libor probe yesterday. The action doubles the number of financiers facing criminal proceedings over the attempts to manipulate the key inter-bank lending rate, after a former UBS banker and two ex-RP Martin brokers were charged last year. It is understood that more ex-bankers and [...]
UK banks brace for tough new US capital rules February 17, 2014 BRITISH banks will be forced to move capital from their UK headquarters over to their US arms, under plans to be voted on today by the Federal Reserve. The result is likely to be higher costs for British and European banks operating in the US, which could reduce the viability of some of their less [...]
Gulf rig outfit taps London for $100m of cash February 17, 2014 GULF Marine Services yesterday announced plans to float on the London stock market in a deal valuing the oil services company at $1bn. The company, which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi but has offices near Aberdeen, said it expects to raise $100m in an initial offering of shares, which it will use to purchase a [...]
Three market-moving political risks leave little room for error February 17, 2014 Italy, Scotland and the EU could all prompt serious ripples AS ITALY’S Democratic Party leader Matteo Renzi was given the mandate to form a new government yesterday (the country’s fourth since the start of the Eurozone crisis in 2009), Italian 10-year bond yields dropped to their lowest level in eight years. Uncertainty stemming from Italy’s [...]
Libor case sees 3 ex-Barclays employees charged February 17, 2014 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that three former Barclays employees have been charged in the UK in connection with the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor). The SFO’s named the individuals as Peter Charles Johnson, Jonathan James Mathew and Stylianos Contogoulas. It’s alleged they conspired to defraud between 1 June 2005 [...]
Finance chiefs are best value February 17, 2014 THE BOSSES of finance firms are among the best value for money, according to a new study from pay specialists Patterson Associates. In the FTSE100 the index suggests HSBC saw the best value from its chief, with shareholders gaining £7,495 in value for every £1 paid to chief executive Stuart Gulliver. Barclays, Lloyds and RBS [...]
Tesco Bank up to 7m accounts February 17, 2014 THE CHALLENGER bank run by grocer Tesco has opened 7m accounts for customers, across its whole range of products including insurance, savings and credit cards, it revealed today. The landmark figure covers just over 5m customers, as some have more than one product with the retailer-based bank. The figures put it ahead of other large [...]
Comcast in $45bn swoop for Time Warner Cable February 13, 2014 US TV giant Comcast yesterday agreed to buy smaller rival Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $45.2bn (£27.1bn), the biggest M&A deal of the year so far. The agreement, which still needs to be approved by regulators and shareholders, will create America’s largest cable and broadband provider, with combined revenues of $87bn and a market cap [...]
Lloyds shares tumble despite return to profit February 13, 2014 LLOYDS declared a profit for 2013 yesterday, indicating the five-year struggle to turn the bank around is complete. The bank is now ready to return fully to the private sector, and wants to start paying dividends from the second half of this year. However, shares fell as Lloyds revealed further provisions to pay for legal [...]
Inside Track: Rothschild shows independent advisers are on a roll February 13, 2014 AT THE top of Rothschild’s impressive and relatively newly-built London headquarters, a modern building set in the 17th century St Swithin’s Lane in the heart of the City, is an auditorium which the firm’s bankers use to host what are known as kick-off meetings for the flotations they’re working on. Over the past few months, [...]