Spending spike as UK economy bounces back September 8, 2013 AS SURVEYS indicate a bumper month for business this September, new figures suggest that the increased activity is driven mainly by consumer spending, with credit and debit card use on the up. Barclaycard said yesterday there had been a strong upswing in spending through August, backing up figures from Visa Europe, which recorded its strongest [...]
The Nominations: A very warm welcome to the shortlists for the City A.M. awards 2013 September 8, 2013 TODAY we kick off the countdown to this year’s City A.M. Awards with the first of the shortlists for an event that has rapidly established itself as a highpoint in the annual calendar. Our awards, now in their fourth year, celebrate all of the City’s main sectors and the people that make sure London remains [...]
London Report: UK retailers set to reveal if tills ringing again September 8, 2013 RETAILERS are set to reveal this week how big an impact the UK recovery is making as consumers return the shops. Reports from Dunelm, Home Retail, Morrisons, Next, Ocado and Sports Direct will show how confident buyers are in the improving economy. Ocado, which will update the market on Thursday, was rated a “buy” by [...]
Banks in a flap as Zapp’s app sparks a scrap September 5, 2013 BANKERS have launched a complaint against upcoming rival mobile payments app Zapp, accusing the platform of unfairly presenting its position as an industry-backed development, City A.M. has learned. Competition is heating up in the sector as banks and app providers grapple for a share of the new and potentially huge market. The Payments Council has [...]
Phones 4u sells off UK’s biggest mobile phone insurer for $160m September 5, 2013 HIGH STREET retailer Phones 4u yesterday dialled up a £100m deal to sell the UK’s biggest mobile insurer to a Wall Street-listed insurance giant. The phone shop’s parent company, Phones 4u Finance, will sell Crewe-based Lifestyle Services Group (LSG) to Assurant for $160m (£107m) after being approached by Assurant to buy the business earlier this [...]
Icap closes in on deal to end probe over Libor allegations September 5, 2013 BROKER DEALER ICAP is believed to be in advanced talks with US and British regulators over a deal to end an investigation into its alleged role in the manipulation of benchmark interest rates. According to people familiar with the negotiations, an agreement with the US Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the [...]
Barclays sets date for £5.8bn rights issue September 4, 2013 THE BIGGEST bank fundraising round since the financial crisis will take place on 13 September, Barclays announced yesterday. The lender is raising £5.8bn in a major rights issue, shoring up its capital position after regulators argued the bank needed to improve its leverage ratio. Existing shareholders will get the first chance to buy as they [...]
Banks’ £500,000 compensation bill for just 10 interest rate swaps September 4, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest banks have paid compensation on just 10 cases of interest rate swap mis-selling so far, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed yesterday. The lenders have taken on 2,800 staff to review more than 30,000 cases, which often involve small firms who wanted protection against interest rate rises. However sometimes they had no choice whether [...]
Exclusive: Utilities firms to roll out mobile payments via bank app Zapp September 4, 2013 MAJOR utilities firms will this month announce plans for consumers to pay bills using new mobile app Zapp, City A.M. understands, in a new drive to consolidate a fragmented industry. From next summer customers will receive bills with QR codes attached, which they can scan to pay the bills with the app. Zapp, set up by [...]
Bullish rights issue statement from Barclays September 4, 2013 BANKING giant Barclays published a rather bullish announcement yesterday, when it released a statement on its latest rights issue. Rather than linking to the Barclays website, all the links appearing to direct to Barclays, in fact sent readers to a site called Hereford.com, an Idaho-based company that sells bull semen. A Barclays spinner was tight-lipped [...]