Miners fuel FTSE gains December 16, 2011 The FTSE 100 continued where it left off in the last session with a moderate rally fuelled by positive data from the US. US weekly jobless claims fell to a three-year low suggesting that its economic recovery was still on track. But markets still remain braced for credit rating downgrades for Eurozone countries as agencies [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CVC STRUGGLES WITH TERRIBLE RESULTS IN ASIA When CVC raised a $4.12bn Asian buy-out fund in 2008, Marc St John, its head of investor relations, referred to the private equity group’s record in the region when he said investors “like what they see”. A few years and a financial crisis later, investors are [...]
Fitch downgrades eight banks December 15, 2011 France’s two biggest banks were among eight downgraded by ratings agency Fitch yesterday after it put them on negative watch two months ago. Fitch hit BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs with downgrades to their viability ratings and one or two notch cuts to [...]
Morgan Stanley joins bank slashing with 1,600 jobs to go December 15, 2011 MORGAN Stanley became the latest investment bank to announce another round of job cuts yesterday, saying that it will slash 1,600 employees by the end of March next year. The bank said the losses would be across all geographies, levels of hierarchy and front- and back-office roles. But City A.M. understands that the front-office cuts [...]
Barclays mulls pay clawback December 14, 2011 BARCLAYS is considering clawing back part of its executives’ bonuses over the bank’s £1bn mis-selling of insurance, chief executive Bob Diamond was forced to admit yesterday. After a testy exchange with Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the influential Treasury select committee of MPs, Diamond eventually conceded: “We are taking into account in our businesses that impact [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 14, 2011 Bargate Murray The City law firm has appointed Jonathan Lea as a senior associate in the corporate department. He will focus on developing relationships with the technology and digital media companies establishing themselves around the Silicon Roundabout area, as well as traditional corporate advisory work. Lea trained at Clyde & Co and has spent his [...]
Rothschild to snub broker Credit Suisse December 13, 2011 BILLIONAIRE Nat Rothschild is preparing to sideline longstanding adviser Credit Suisse by appointing a new broker for his London-listed mining venture Bumi, City A.M. can reveal. Bumi has held a beauty parade for investment banks that is likely to see either Barclays Capital or Bank of America Merrill Lynch appointed following a decision at the [...]
Both Santander and RBS still have a long way to go December 13, 2011 IN January I looked at how our major banks had fared over 2010, noting that it had been a bad year for perception of Santander, with customer opinion in particular driving scores on YouGov’s BrandIndex downwards at an alarming rate. RBS remained the worst perceived of the big banks, but had made strides throughout 2010. [...]
Cash bid for Endemol in face of debt December 12, 2011 TIME Warner has revised its bid for the debt-ridden television production company Endemol, restating its previous proposal of €1bn (£859m) as an all-cash offer. This comes amid talks of debt restructuring at the Dutch company behind Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, which has racked up €2.8bn of debt. It is expected that Endemol’s [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 12, 2011 Cushman & Wakefield The global property consultant has expanded its EMEA sustainability team by appointing Justy Mathew as sustainability analyst, based in London. He joins from Pensions & Investment Research Consultants, where he worked on corporate social responsibility. Reporting to Andries van der Walt, head of sustainability for EMEA, Mathew will deliver sustainability consultancy for [...]