FTSE lifted as miners report robust output July 17, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 rose yesterday, with miners cheered by a string of solid output numbers from the likes of BHP Billiton, and with the US Federal Reserve reassuring that stimulus will only be cut if the economy is strong. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke signalled plans to start scaling back bond purchases this year could be [...]
Barclays fined £300m for rigging US energy market July 17, 2013 THE US Regulator today upheld a $453m (£300m) fine on Barclays and four of its traders for manipulating the energy markets. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said that the bank deliberately lost money in the power markets between 2006 and 2008 for financial benefit and that the traders knew this was illegal. Barclays must [...]
Gilts hit by new rigging scandal July 16, 2013 A NEW rigging scandal reared its head in the City yesterday, after it was revealed that an alleged attempt by traders to fix pricing in government bond markets has been under investigation since 2011. The Bank of England’s director of markets Paul Fisher told a panel of MPs that the central bank had passed details [...]
Barclays hit by $453m energy trading fines July 16, 2013 THE US authorities last night confirmed Barclays and four of its traders will have to pay fines totalling $453m (£299m) for allegedly manipulating the Californian energy markets. The bank, which has been fighting the claims, has been given 30 days to pay up by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The regulator said the bank and [...]
Barclays hires finance chief from JP Morgan July 16, 2013 BARCLAYS’ group finance director Chris Lucas will step down early next year, the bank announced yesterday, the final member of Bob Diamond’s top team to quit following last year’s Libor fixing scandal. He will be replaced by Tushar Morzaria, who is currently chief finance officer in corporate and investment banking at JP Morgan. Morzaria will [...]
City Moves for 17 July 2013| Who’s switching jobs July 16, 2013 HSBC The bank has announced the appointment of Alison McGregor as chief executive for Scotland. McGregor joined HSBC in March as a director of corporate banking. She has previously held senior roles at Clydesdale Bank and Barclays. BNY Mellon The investment company has recruited Anil Dala as market manager for treasury services in Europe, the Middle East [...]
JP Morgan joins Barclays and Goldman in slashing US GDP forecast July 16, 2013 JP Morgan has cut its forecast for US annual output in the second quarter of the year to one per cent from two per cent, citing the unexpected 0.5 per cent fall in wholesale inventories in May. However a reduction in the stock of unsold goods held by wholesalers in the second quarter “should imply [...]
The economics and culture of Murray’s Wimbledon triumph July 12, 2013 HE DID it, he did it – and a euphoric nation roared with delight, celebrating a moment many of us feared would never happen and a new, 26-year old national hero. A Brit is Wimbledon champion, and this is real life, not a Hollywood rom-com. Needless to say, Andy Murray’s triumph is about much more [...]
The Carlyle Group buys British packaging supplier Chesapeake July 4, 2013 GLOBAL asset manager The Carlyle Group yesterday announced that it has acquired UK-headquartered packaging supplier Chesapeake from private equity house Irving Place Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The deal value is understood to be near £500m, with debt already in place. Financing was provided by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barclays. [...]
The retail funding myth – why the investment banks aren’t to blame June 24, 2013 BANKS used retail deposits to gamble on the investment banking casino!” That is the common perception of the cause behind the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The popular belief is that retail deposits, instead of being used to fund “safe” traditional retail lending like mortgages, were used to fund high-risk derivatives trading on the international capital markets. [...]