Hester says?untenable war on pay is driving away bank’s most talented staff February 24, 2011 RBS is losing its best staff due to the stringent pay conditions imposed upon it by the government, said chief executive Stephen Hester yesterday. He told City A.M. that “regretted losses” – losses of the bank’s most valued staff despite efforts to keep them – are going up. “They’re too high. They need to come [...]
Tax bill is double that of its rivals February 24, 2011 RBS and its staff paid £3.9bn to the Treasury in taxes last year, the bank has revealed. The amount is almost double the UK?tax bills paid by other banks like Barclays and Goldman Sachs, because of the bank’s size and its concentration in the UK. The high costs of its taxes is despite the fact [...]
American jobless claims drop February 24, 2011 New unemployment benefit claims in the US dropped to 391,000 in the week ending 19 February, while continuing jobless claims fell below 3.8m. “The continued improvement in this week’s report signals that the weather-related spikes in January did not alter the downward trend in claims, and we take this as evidence that the labour market [...]
Energy stocks rally but RBS leads the FTSE downwards February 24, 2011 UNREST in the Middle East and North Africa hit Britain’s top shares again yesterday, though rising crude prices and upbeat comment from oil major BP on its Indian activities lifted energy stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 3.55 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,919.98, pinned just below a seven-month technical support level of 5,920. [...]
Oil surges on Libyan crisis February 23, 2011 THE PRICE of oil continued to surge yesterday, after at least half of Libya’s production ground to a halt amid escalating violence. Brent crude for delivery in April soared six per cent to race to more than $112.12 a barrel, its highest level in two-and-a-half years. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery jumped 3.9 per [...]
Qatar keen to buy RBS and Lloyds stakes February 23, 2011 QATAR plans to buy stakes in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, the nation’s Prime Minister told David Cameron yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said when asked about the state-owned banks: “We are very open to any investment in the UK and we have discussed some.” The Qatar Investment Authority already [...]
Barclays deal with Lehman cleared in US February 23, 2011 BARCLAYS is in line for an estimated £500m windfall after winning a legal battle with the bankruptcy estate of Lehman Brothers. Lehman’s creditors were attempting to extract $11bn (£6.8bn) from the bank on the grounds that it had improperly snapped up assets during a fire sale following Lehman’s collapse. But the bank’s lawyers fended off [...]
Eurozone new orders in shock rise February 23, 2011 INDUSTRIAL orders in the Eurozone defied expectations in the final month of 2010, official data revealed yesterday. The new orders index, compiled by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, jumped by 2.2 per cent in December, compared to the previous month. Across the European Union as a whole, industrial orders rose by 2.5 per cent [...]
France and Italy see prices fall February 23, 2011 French consumer prices dropped 0.2 per cent in January compared to December, official data showed yesterday. The fall reduced the annualised rate of inflation to 1.8 per cent, from two per cent in the last month of 2010. Services, transport and communication prices unexpectedly declined 0.6 per cent on the month, weighing down the figures. [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 23, 2011 Smith & Williamson The law firm has appointed a new head of its City-based restructuring and recovery team. Anthony Spicer will take up the role in the firm’s Moorgate office. He is a chartered accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner. He has specialised in turnaround and resturucturing since 1989, on both the lending and company side, [...]