Bank of England hires Barclays economist to join forecast team November 5, 2013 THE BANK of England said yesterday that it had appointed Barclays’ chief UK economist, Simon Hayes, to head its economic forecasting team. Hayes, who worked at the Bank for eight years before joining Barclays, will be responsible for drafting the central bank’s quarterly economic forecasts and will report to BoE chief economist Spencer Dale. No [...]
Somali transfer firm wins right to keep banking with Barclays November 5, 2013 A SOMALI money transfer group has won an injunction to keep its banking services with Barclays open, having launched a campaign against closure that won support from Olympic athlete Mo Farah, the United Nations and several charities. Dahabshiil, which says it is the largest African money transfer operator and has around 100,000 customers in the [...]
London Report: FTSE weakens after insurers and banks fall November 5, 2013 THE UK’S top share index weakened yesterday, with insurer RSA sinking after a profit warning while banks also dropped sharply. RSA shed 6.3 per cent in brisk volume after saying that insured losses caused by recent severe weather in Europe and Canada were “materially above assumptions” and that full-year returns to shareholders were likely to [...]
EU regulators to fine HSBC, RBS and JP Morgan in Euribor probe November 5, 2013 The European Commission is near to fining several banks hundreds of millions for Euribor rigging – fixing the rate at which banks lend to each other in euros, reports Reuters. JP Morgan, RBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Soc Gen and Credit Agricole will all face fines, with Barclays avoiding one as it was the lender which [...]
Dubai property titan backs laws ahead of float November 4, 2013 ONE OF Dubai’s biggest property firms yesterday said tougher regulations in the country would help prevent a repeat of its 2008 real estate meltdown, as it unveiled plans to raise $500m in a London float. Damac Properties, which was founded by chairman Hussain Sajwani and is the biggest developer in the middle east, said recent [...]
Renewables firm Infinis puts price tag on IPO stake November 4, 2013 INFINIS, the energy company owned by Guy Hands’ private equity firm Terra Firma, yesterday set the price range for its forthcoming stock market float to value the company at nearly £1bn. Shares in the renewable energy provider are expected to price at between 260p and 310p each, giving the company a market cap of between [...]
Rapid boost for UK builders as sector heats up November 4, 2013 UK CONSTRUCTION firms have continued their upward climb during October, posting the strongest one-month improvement to activity since before the financial crisis. According to Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the sector, construction is expanding at the fastest rate since September 2007. The headline figure of the index is 59.4, well above the neutral 50 [...]
City Moves for 05 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 4, 2013 RBS The bank’s real estate management division, part of its global restructuring group, has announced the hire of Jessica Way as a senior asset manager. She was most recently at Aviva Investors, where she was a real estate asset manager for its property trust. Chadbourne & Parke The advisory firm has recruited Nikolai Mikhailov as an [...]
London Report: HSBC lifts FTSE as Ryanair and Weir Group sink November 4, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 share index pushed ahead yesterday, as its biggest stock HSBC rose after solid results, outweighing weakness in the airline and engineering sectors following profit warnings. HSBC advanced 2.3 per cent in its biggest one-day rise in four months after quarterly profits rose by a tenth, year-on-year, meeting analyst expectations and reassuring investors [...]
Merlin set to close books early after strong demand November 4, 2013 MERLIN Entertainment is planning to close the books on its £3bn stock market flotation ahead of schedule thanks to the strength of demand from institutional investors. The operator of Legoland, Alton Towers and Madame Tussauds is now expected to close the book on its initial public offering (IPO) later this week, instead of 11 November [...]