Innovation Diary: There will be plenty more Wongas to come – even as the fintech sector begins to grow up February 9, 2014 FEW NEED telling about the growth of peer-to-peer lending. Whether driven away by dissatisfaction with traditional banking, or pulled by attractive returns and convenience, lenders and borrowers are increasing interested. According to Nesta, P2P business lending grew by 211 per cent between 2012 and 2013. And while P2P lenders control just 1 per cent (about [...]
Barclays cuts banker cash bonus cap to £140,000 February 7, 2014 Barclays is slashing cash bonuses for its investment bankers to £140,000, according to Sky News' Mark Kleinman. Sky has revealed that the cash cap for bonuses has been cut to £140,000 from the £185,000 seen last year. Barclays is planning to hand out roughly double as much to its employees as it will through shareholder [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 07 February 2014 February 6, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Unease over Microsoft reshuffle Some of Microsoft’s major shareholders are expressing unease over this week’s management reshuffle, in which founder Bill Gates moved from chairman to a new role as technology adviser. Investors broadly welcomed the choice of Satya Nadella to become chief executive, but three of Microsoft’s top 20 shareholders voiced disappointment [...]
No Eurozone rate cut as Draghi plays down fears of deflation February 6, 2014 THE EUROZONE will not tip into deflation, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi said yesterday, defying the monetary policy doves who had called for him to cut interest rates again. Inflation in the Eurozone has fallen to 0.7 per cent in the year to January, well below the target of below but near to two per cent. [...]
Rawlinson left red-faced after overheard lunch February 6, 2014 IT’S THE nightmare scenario we all dread. Going for a meeting with a prospective employer and getting spotted (and overheard) by your current boss. But that’s exactly what happened to mining investment maestro Michael Rawlinson when he was thinking about leaving his role as head of mining at Liberum Capital during the summer. Amid talks [...]
Best of the Brokers for 07 February 2014 February 6, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com DAILY MAIL AND GENERAL TRUST Nomura has hiked its target price on shares in the Daily Mail-owner to 1,060p , up from 900p, albeit maintaining its “neutral” rating. Nomura cited slightly higher advertising growth and a lower print decline. DMGT said this week that its property website [...]
Forex rate-rigging scandal 2015 probe: Foreign exchange crisis engulfs London February 5, 2014 City foreign exchange desks were thrown into turmoil yesterday as top traders at Goldman Sachs and Citi resigned, while Deutsche Bank fired three New York traders. Banks are being lent on hard by regulators over alleged FX benchmark manipulation, adding to chaos in the sector. The New York Department for Financial Services (DFS) has become [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 February 2014 February 5, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JD WETHERSPOON Barclays has upgraded the pub chain to “overweight” with a target of 880p. The broker thinks Wetherspoons is being overlooked due to a price to earnings ratio that is below the long-term average for the firm, but thinks the shares could [...]
London Report: FTSE pares back losses after RSA and Glaxo rally February 5, 2014 THE UK’S top top equity index snapped a five-day losing streak yesterday, lifted by rallies in insurer RSA and pharma group GlaxoSmithKline. Shares in RSA rose 4.6 per cent on expectations its new chief executive Stephen Hester, credited with salvaging RBS, would help turn around the insurer, which is struggling with a £200m pound ($330m) [...]
Lenders pay off £300m of £3bn swaps redress February 4, 2014 BRITAIN’S biggest banks have paid £306.3m to small firms who were mis-sold interest rate swaps, the Financial Conduct Authority said yesterday. The figure for January is almost double the £158.6m completed by December, as the banks get closer to finishing their evaluations of customers and can pay more of the compensation. But around another £2.7bn still remains, [...]