Barclays picks lawyer to head review July 24, 2012 Barclays has picked veteran lawyer Anthony Salz to lead a review of its culture and practices following the Libor scandal that rocked the bank, forcing its chairman and chief executive to quit. The review could include a change to the bank’s bonus structure and is expected to complete before May 2013. The scandal has shown [...]
O’Donnell and Winters could head Barclays July 23, 2012 THE TOP two jobs at Barclays could be given to a regulatory adviser and a Whitehall insider, rather than candidates with internal experience. Former JP Morgan banker Bill Winters is the Barclays board’s favoured candidate to replace Bob Diamond as chief executive of the beleaguered bank, and ex-civil service boss Lord Gus O’Donnell is the [...]
SME mis-selling probe spreads to more banks July 23, 2012 SEVEN more banks will review their sales of hedging products to small companies, the Financial Services Authority announced yesterday, joining the four major institutions which have already pledged to compensate customers for any mis-selling. Around 28,000 interest rate hedging products were sold from 2001 to date, with the latest seven banks representing around 10 per [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 23, 2012 Taylor Wessing Alix Prentice has been appointed partner in the law firm’s financial services regulatory team. She joins from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where she was special counsel in its financial services group. Prentice has also worked for the Financial Services Authority. Allianz Global Investors Corinne Crawford has been appointed director in the European consultant relations [...]
THE TIPSTER | Brewing up a storm despite the sun July 23, 2012 SABMiller will serve up its trading announcement later this week. Investors will be hoping that news from the brewing giant will brim with plenty of fizz if its share price is to hold on to an 18 per cent gain for the year so far. The company’s increasing shift into emerging markets has helped it [...]
Anthony Salz to lead Barclays’ culture inquiry July 22, 2012 LEADING solicitor and Rothschild vice-chairman Anthony Salz will today be appointed to investigate staff ethics at Barclays and create a new code of conduct. Meanwhile it emerged that leadership favourites Rich Ricci and Sir Michael Rake have ruled themselves out of the running in the race to become chief executive and chairman of the bank [...]
New brooms should not sweep aside Diamond’s achievements July 22, 2012 BARCLAYS is set to replace its two top positions from outside. That’s damaging in the short-term, because it means a longer process of transition rather than a swift coronation. Yet those who favour a pair of new brooms point to the longer-term, saying it will be a clean break with Bob Diamond’s controversial reign. There’s [...]
LONDON REPORT July 22, 2012 A SERIES of heavyweight corporate results and significant economic data releases await markets this week, culminating with the limelight being poured upon controversy-struck Barclays once again. Barclays will release interim results for its second quarter on Friday, with the ongoing Libor scandal likely to overshadow the banks’ forecasted profits. Fellow British lender Lloyds will itself [...]
Following arguments that bank regulators have failed, is self-regulation the answer? July 22, 2012 YES Peter Meinertzhagen The main problem with regulation by statutory bodies is that nothing gets done. Witness the inquiry into the fixing of Libor rates. If the governor of the Bank of England could still raise his eyebrows, as in the days of self-regulation, Barclays would have had to act or face the consequences. During [...]
FTSE edges down as UK borrowing rises July 20, 2012 Telecoms giant Vodafone pushed the FTSE 100 lower while UK government borrowing came in above estimates this morning. The Office for National Statistics said that public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions rose last month to £14.4bn from £13.9bn in June 2011. On London’s blue chip index Vodafone fell 1.3 per cent after the [...]