Women now make up a quarter of new FTSE board members March 12, 2012 A QUARTER of new FTSE 100 board hires made in 2011 were female, research will reveal this morning, in a new record that highlights a dramatic change at the top of Britain’s largest companies. Of the 190 appointments made to FTSE 100 boards during 2011, 47 were women, boosting the total number of female-held directorships [...]
Leaders give green light to bailout plan March 12, 2012 EUROZONE leaders approved the €130bn (£109.3bn) Greek bailout package yesterday, after private sector investors were forced to take major losses on their holdings of the government’s debt. Last week investors accounting for 85.8 per cent of the private sector’s holdings agreed to take a 53.5 per cent write-down, and an additional 9.9 per cent were [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 12, 2012 Grainger Laure Duhot will be joining the UK’s largest listed residential property landlord in the new role of director of strategic capital markets. She will oversee Grainger’s evolving business strategy, with specific focus on the creation and management of new joint ventures, funds and strategic alliances. Duhot has worked extensively in investment banking and global [...]
FTSE lifts as defensive gains offset miner and bank losses March 12, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue-chip index ended with a small gain yesterday, as profit-taking on mining companies and banks was offset by gains among defensive shares. The FTSE 100 index ended up 5.26 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,892.75, having traded 90 per cent of its 90-day volume average. The index only moved into positive territory late [...]
Government backs 95% mortgages for first-time buyers March 12, 2012 The government has launched a new mortgage indemnity scheme that is designed to allow first-time buyers to step onto the property ladder and boost the construction industry. Under the NewBuy scheme major lenders including Barclays, Nationwide and Natwest will allow people to borrow up to 95 per cent of the value of a home, with [...]
Banks in rate swap dispute with SMEs March 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top banks face claims of mis-selling from hundreds of small businesses that bought complex interest rate derivatives before the start of the financial crisis. Barclays and HSBC, as well as taxpayer-backed Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, all face allegations that they pushed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take out interest rate swap [...]
NICK CANDY JOINS THE PARTY SET AT CANNES March 8, 2012 AFTER a subdued and more sombre start to MIPIM, the annual property conference in Cannes, the mood began to pick up on Wednesday, the second and busiest day, as the weather brightened and investors began to talk more positively, albeit cautiously about the outlook for real estate this year. The sun graced Cannes in time [...]
French GDP grinds to halt as German growth holds up March 8, 2012 THE FRENCH economy is looking weak with employment falling and new forecasts suggest it will not grow in the first three months of 2012. However, Germany is on a reasonably strong footing, according to industrial production data out yesterday. The final quarter of 2011 saw French non-farm payrolls fall by 0.1 per cent – a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 8, 2012 AFC Energy The developer of low-cost alkaline fuel cell technology has announced the appointment of Sir John Sunderland as non-executive director of the company. Sunderland has spent 40 years in leadership roles, best known as the former chief executive and later as chairman of Cadbury Schweppes. Currently Sunderland is a non-executive director of Barclays Bank, [...]
FTSE buoyed by miners and banks March 8, 2012 The FTSE 100 pushed higher this morning as investors gained confidence in Greece’s chances of completing a lifesaving bond swap later today. Major banks and pension funds, representing about 40 per cent of Greece’s outstanding debt, threw their weight behind Athens’ bond swap offer to private creditors yesterday. That should be eno€130bn fund for Greece [...]