SPOOF AD MAKES ITS WAY ROUND THE CITY July 5, 2012 THE above picture, described as “quite obviously a spoof” by Barclays – was the subject of much mirth yesterday as it made its way by email and Twitter around the City.
Heart of Glass July 5, 2012 AFTER A 12-YEAR WAIT, Londoners were finally given a preview of the 360-degree panorama from the 72nd floor of the Shard yesterday, at a formal ceremony marking its external completion. The 95-storey tower designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano has had to overcome major planning battles, fierce criticism and a fractious ownership since it was [...]
Questions the Treasury Committee should ask Paul Tucker on Monday July 5, 2012 IT WILL be on strictly surname-terms that Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, faces his interrogators on the Treasury Committee on Monday. Tucker, unlike Bob Diamond, has plenty of experience of dealing with the Committee’s MPs and knows when to defer to them. But he cannot expect an easy ride – there [...]
The fall of Bob Diamond: How tragedy can stalk even the most powerful July 5, 2012 FOR God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground, and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” Anyone who caught the BBC’s dramatisation of William Shakespeare’s Richard II at the weekend will have seen not only one of the City’s historic buildings featuring prominently – St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield – but also [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 5, 2012 Political animals [Re: Pity Osborne isn’t this passionate when talking about growth, yesterday] George Osborne is treating this scandal as a political game, and most of the coalition is following him. There may be evidence of over-close contact between politicians and bankers, but that contact crosses the spectrum – it is, in fact, structural. Jamie [...]
FTSE creeps up as investors await BoE decision July 5, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up in early trading as investors awaited the Bank of England’s next move on interest rates and quantitative easing to be announced at midday. Investors were also watching the unravelling Libor (the London Interbank Offered Rate) scandal with ratings agency Moody’s today threatening to downgrade Barclays over the damage to its [...]
Moody’s threatens Barclays downgrade July 5, 2012 Moody’s has threatened to downgrade Barclays’ credit rating because of the impact on the management structure of the Libor scandal. The ratings agency warned over the difficulty of replacing key senior staff including the former chief executive Bob Diamond. The agency also said it was concerned about the cultural changes needed at Barclays, an issue [...]
Diamond feared nationalisation July 4, 2012 BOB Diamond yesterday told MPs that he feared Barclays could have been nationalised if the bank did not reduce its Libor interest rate submissions in October 2008. At that time Barclays was reporting funding costs at the top end of the scale, even though other banks were in much worse condition. “They might say to [...]
Row grows as chancellor accuses Balls of Libor role July 4, 2012 Senior Labour politicians fiercely denied any involvement in the Libor fixing scandal yesterday, after George Osborne said those around Gordon Brown “were clearly involved” in rate rigging, and former Barclays boss Bob Diamond said the bank was in regular contact with ministers. Meanwhile Labour MPs said Bob Diamond’s failure to answer all the Treasury select [...]
Pity Osborne isn’t this passionate when talking about growth July 4, 2012 WHAT a shame. Yesterday’s grilling of Bob Diamond, Barclays’ swashbuckling former boss, while not quite a damp squib, did not really clarify a great deal. There were some intriguing revelations – including that the relationship between the FSA and Barclays had been bad for months and that Diamond was worried that the government would nationalise [...]