Exclusive: Big banks shoot down Carney’s £90bn loan plan August 29, 2013 THE BIGGEST four banks do not intend to run down their liquidity buffers to increase lending, City A.M. understands, despite Bank of England boss Mark Carney this week cutting the size of the buffers of liquid assets they must hold. The governor believes this could free up £90bn to lend out. However major lenders are expected [...]
Hunting helped by more drilling in the States and the North Sea August 29, 2013 ENERGY services firm Hunting said increased drilling in onshore United States and the Gulf of Mexico would drive a second-half recovery after poor weather earlier in the year curbed operations in Canada and dented margins. Hunting, which provides equipment and services for drilling and completing oil wells, posted core first-half profit (Ebitda) down 2.7 per [...]
City Moves for 30 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 29, 2013 Alvarez & Marsal The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Keith Williamson as head of its global forensic and dispute team in Hong Kong and China. Williamson has over 18 years’ forensic and investigative accounting experience, and specialises in investigations into fraud, corruption and regulatory issues. He joined Alvarez & Marsal in 2011, having previously [...]
Co-Op reports major losses in its banking division August 29, 2013 The Co-Operative Group has reported major losses for the first half of the year and regulators have reaffirmed its £1.5bn capital shortfall (release). The group made £559m of pre-tax losses in the first half of the year after writing off £496m of bad loans mostly relating to Britannia Building Society, which merged with its troubled [...]
Governor stands firm on plan for UK interest rates August 28, 2013 INTEREST rates could stay at rock bottom even after unemployment falls below seven per cent, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday. In a bid to convince sceptical markets he really is serious about keeping rates down for the next three years, Carney said he would look for a wide range of evidence that [...]
G4S sells shares to push down £2bn debt pile August 28, 2013 SECURITY group G4S yesterday drew a line under the swashbuckling era of former chief executive Nick Buckles as it announced a series of drastic moves designed to avoid an embarrassing credit rating downgrade. G4S – whose reputation took a battering after it failed to supply enough guards for last year’s Olympic Games – yesterday raised £350m [...]
Retail sales smash expectations August 28, 2013 THE RETAIL sector is returning to a better state of health according to a widely-regarded business survey published yesterday. Sales in the year to August grew at their fastest rate since November last year, smashing the expectations of economists, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said. Nearly half (49 per cent) of the 125 firms surveyed by [...]
City Moves for 29 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 28, 2013 Coutts The wealth division of RBS has appointed Donna Burns as managing director and head of human resources. She joins from The Renaissance Group, where she was most recently managing director and global head of human resources. Burns has also held roles at Goldman Sachs. Barclays Corporate & Employer Solutions The division of Barclays Bank [...]
Solheim glory fuels McGinley’s faith in youth August 28, 2013 RYDER Cup captain Paul McGinley insists he is happy to have rookies on his team for next year’s contest with America and has pointed to Europe’s glorious recent Solheim Cup triumph as proof it can work. Players start accumulating points towards qualification for the next intercontinental showdown at Gleneagles from today, when play gets underway [...]
Any Other Business – 29/08 August 28, 2013 Wealth management firm Vestra hosted the unofficial Square Mile sports day last night, holding its second annual dodgeball tournament at the Honourable Artillery Company’s sports ground in Moorgate. Of course fancy dress was mandatory, with teams from Investec, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barclays and BNY Mellon all looking the part. More competitive than the dodgeball was the battle [...]