FTSE in modest gains as Italy and Greece fight to win back market credibility November 11, 2011 Banks led modest FTSE 100 gains in early trading as Greece and Italy fought to convince investors that they could fight back from the economic abyss. Italy, the latest Eurozone nation to come under pressure in the bond market, moved closer to a national unity government, while its treasury managed to sell one-year bills at [...]
Barclays private equity unit in management buyout November 11, 2011 Barclays Private Equity is being bought out by its own management team and will be relaunched as Equistone Partners Europe, it said, adding that the value of the gross assets being sold off was expected to be around £45m. Barclays, which last month posted higher profits as gains in its retail banking and credit card [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 10, 2011 Sciens Sciens Fund of Funds Management Holdings has appointed Alex Allen as senior portfolio manager in Sciens’ fund of hedge funds business. Based in the London office, he will report to Stavros Siokos, president of the Sciens fund of hedge funds and managed account platform businesses. Prior to joining Sciens, Allen was a co-founder and [...]
US trade gap narrows and jobless claims fall November 10, 2011 The gap between US exports and imported goods has fallen to its lowest level this year while new claims for jobless benefits have dropped, in signs that the economy is picking up. The US Commerce Department said the seasonally adjusted US trade deficit shrank to $43.1bn (£26.9bn) in September, its narrowest since December 2010, thanks [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 9, 2011 DLA Piper Tony Angel, the former firm-wide managing partner of Linklaters, has joined DLA Piper as global co-chairman and senior partner of the international law firm. He will serve alongside global chairman Francis B Burch Jr and work with the firm’s chief executives Sir Nigel Knowles and Lee I Miller. Following his tenure at Linklaters [...]
FTSE falls as Italy debt yields spook investors November 9, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares sank to their lowest close for a week yesterday on spiralling concerns over Italy’s debt as the country’s bond yields raced to dangerous levels. Italy was thrown into the spotlight as its 10-year bond yields shot above seven per cent, levels that forced bailouts in Ireland, Portugal and Greece, and as investors [...]
Modelling a return to the old currencies November 9, 2011 THOUGH the debates and political squabbling will continue to rage on in the gilded offices of politicians and central bankers, we have reached the point where many will be looking at the practical side of a return of one or more of the old European currencies. But which will be the first to fall? The [...]
Markets slip as Italy debt crisis deepens November 9, 2011 Dramatic political changes at two of the Eurozone’s crisis-ridden economies initially boosted world stocks but markets went into reverse as it became clear that Italy’s debt woes were escalating. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said late yesterday that he would step down after parliament passes budget reforms. Greece, meanwhile, was working create a consensus government [...]
M&A deals at lowest since 2003 November 8, 2011 THE UK’s share of mergers and takeovers globally has slumped to the lowest on record as just five per cent of world deals now involve UK target companies, data from Dealogic yesterday showed. Dealmaking in the UK this year has been worth only $116.3bn (£72.6bn), 14 per cent lower than in the same period in [...]
Turmoil hits Lansdowne as hedgies falter November 7, 2011 MORE evidence of the struggles of the hedge fund industry has emerged as Lansdowne Partners admitted recording losses of up to 20 per cent at two of its key funds. Lansdowne, which manages $13.3bn (£8.31bn) and is one of many City institutions to have hired Tony Blair after he left Downing Street, has been caught [...]