2,000 staff to go in Barclays’ major review December 13, 2012 BARCLAYS is preparing to cut up to 2,000 investment banking jobs under a major review of how it does business, it emerged yesterday, joining the flood of investment banks cutting costs and closing down sub-scale businesses. The major British bank is expected to cut back its Asian and European operations as it focuses on its [...]
Olympic and Paralympic Games fail to boost UK visitor numbers December 13, 2012 VISITS to the UK crept lower in 2012, despite London hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A total of 26.2m visits have been made to the UK in the first ten months of 2012, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics yesterday. This is one per cent below the level in 2011, [...]
FTSE 100 down as Eurozone outlines banking supervision rules December 13, 2012 The leading share index was trading around 0.2 per cent down this morning, as Europe finance ministers clinched a deal to give the European Central Bank new powers to supervise Eurozone banks from 2014. Energy services firm Wood Group was the biggest blue chip faller, sinking more than 2.5 per cent in early deals. In [...]
Former regulator Sants takes up job at Barclays December 12, 2012 FORMER financial watchdog Hector Sants is joining Barclays as its head of compliance. Sants, who left the Financial Services Authority in June, had been scoping out new roles at both Barclays and Deloitte. He will take up his new position on 21 January, having already secured FSA approval for his appointment. The 56-year-old will also [...]
London finishes the year with a last minute flotation flurry December 12, 2012 Weather permitting, Veysel Aral and his team will be at the offices of the London Stock Exchange on Monday morning to celebrate a coup. For Aral has become the latest of an elite batch of chief executives who have managed to float their companies on the London Exchange’s main market this year Aral runs Kcell, [...]
FTSE surges to nine-month high on hopes of further stimulus from Fed December 12, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index closed at a new nine-month high yesterday, led by an energy sector buoyed by hopes that the US Federal Reserve would continue to provide stimulus for the world’s biggest economy. Oil & Gas and basic materials, which rise and fall with optimism over the economic outlook, combined to added over 13 [...]
Former FSA chief joins Barclays as head of compliance December 12, 2012 Barclays has appointed former Financial Services Authority chief Hector Sants as head of compliance and government and regulatory relations. Sants, who will join the executive committee of Barclays, will report directly to chief executive Antony Jenkins. The former City watchdog boss will oversee all compliance activities across Barclays, including all regions in which the bank [...]
FTSE 100 edges up on US stimulus hopes December 12, 2012 The blue chip index ticked slightly higher in early deals this morning, staying above the important 5,900 level, underpinned by expectations of more stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve at a meeting later today. Anglo American pushed up the index in early trading. The miner added more than 1.5 per cent on the back of [...]
Three men arrested in Libor probe December 11, 2012 THE UK fraud office yesterday stepped up the global investigation into the Libor fixing scandal by arresting three City bankers in connection with the probe. The men, aged 33, 41 and 47, were detained by the City of London police on the orders of the Serious Fraud Office in an early morning raid on three [...]
Tullow snaps up Norway oil firm but shares sink December 11, 2012 BLUE CHIP explorer Tullow Oil plummeted more than eight per cent in trading yesterday as it announced it is to acquire Spring Energy Norway for up to $672m (£417m). Spring, a Norwegian oil exploration company, holds 28 offshore licences in the North, Norwegian and Barents Sea covering more than 18,000 square kilometres. Since 2008, it [...]