City Moves for 18 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 17, 2013 Stirling Square Capital Partners The mid-market private equity firm has announced the appointments of Jonathan Heathcote (pictured) as a partner and Matteo Nichil as an executive. Heathcote was most recently at Palamon Capital Partners, where he was a partner. Prior to that, he was a partner at European Acquisition Capital. Nichil joins from Bank of [...]
London Report: New borrowing figures likely a boost for Britain November 17, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne is likely to get a boost this week with October public borrowing figures predicted to show the economic recovery gaining strength. Corporation payments and profits from the Royal Mail share sale have helped boost the government coffers and the final set of figures before Osborne’s Autumn Statement are expected to be strong. [...]
Entrepreneurship week comes to London: Four events worth watching November 17, 2013 IT’S GLOBAL Entrepreneurship Week, and this year’s theme (Take a Step Forward) is more timely than usual. Despite record numbers of new startups, UK entrepreneurs still find it more difficult to scale or reach the next stage of their development than their peers in the US. Whatever the reasons (and they are much debated), this [...]
Barclays goes low on pricing of new cocos November 14, 2013 BARCLAYS gave investors a generous price on the launch of its $2bn (£1.2bn) contingent convertible (coco) bond yesterday, a cautious plan to ensure strong trading with the relatively new capital instrument. The bank is paying 8.25 per cent for the instrument, which it issued as part of its plan to raise capital and improve its [...]
Barclays to cut branch staff in efficiency drive November 14, 2013 BARCLAYS is to lay off around 1,700 staff, unions said yesterday, as part of its long-term plan to automate more tasks and make the business more efficient. Branch staff will be affected by the move. Boss Antony Jenkins has spoken previously about his long-term vision for the sector, where he expects customers to demand more [...]
Sants leaves Barclays after just 10 months November 13, 2013 FORMER top regulator Sir Hector Sants yesterday resigned from Barclays, a month after going on sick leave. The ex-Financial Services Authority (FSA) boss joined Barclays 10 months ago as head of compliance and government and regulatory relations. But he went on leave last month suffering from stress and exhaustion, and has since decided to leave [...]
Investors back Infinis towards middle of range November 13, 2013 ADVISERS to Infinis, the renewable energy group owned by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma, were yesterday said to be guiding potential investors to the mid-point in the price range for the group’s forthcoming flotation. As the closing date arrived for the retail offer, it looked as if the shares will be priced at no more than [...]
Barclays’ Hector Sants resigns after taking sick leave November 13, 2013 Sir Hector Sants, head of compliance at Barclays bank and former chief of the Financial Services Authority, has resigned, after taking leave in October due to stress and exhaustion. Chief of operations and technology officer, Shaygen Kheradpir will also be leaving for a CEO position at a US company. In a statement released on Wednesday, [...]
Osborne’s bonus plans raised fears for talent of top RBS staff November 12, 2013 GEORGE Osborne wanted to slash bonuses even further at RBS, but was stopped by advisers who feared the bank would no longer be able to hire the best staff, UK Financial Investments’ (UKFI) chairman revealed yesterday. Robin Budenberg, who runs UKFI (a unit of the Treasury), told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee: “There were [...]
Recovery set to gather steam at last in France November 12, 2013 THE FRENCH economy should shrug off fears of stagnation, the country’s central bank predicted yesterday, forecasting growth will pick up in the final three months of the year. The Bank of France expects growth of 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the expected 0.1 per cent growth in the third quarter. It [...]