CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 11, 2011 Investment Solutions Investment Solutions, the multi-manager portfolio provider, has appointed a new chief executive: Rufus Warner. Warner comes to the firm from Earth Capital Partners and after 27 years in asset management, including stints at Societe Generale Asset Management, Close Investments, Morgan Grenfell Asset Management and Fidelity. He will now take charge of the UK [...]
Banks support FTSE amid broad-based gains January 11, 2011 LONDON’S FTSE made strong gains today as bank shares surged and sovereign debt fears receded. Athough stocks gave back some of the day’s earlier gains by the market close, the leading index closed closed up 57.73 points or one per cent at 6,014.03. It ended a three-day losing streak and stayed ahead of the 6,000 [...]
Diamond says banks should stop saying sorry January 11, 2011 BARCLAYS’ Bob Diamond has told Parliament he believes banks should stop apologising for mistakes made during the financial crisis. In a crammed room, which spectators had to queue to enter, Barclays’ incoming chief executive refused to commit to again waiving his bonus – and said Barclays would not quit London even if the bank was [...]
FTSE 100 bounce back led by banks January 11, 2011 The FTSE 100 lifted in early trading today as banking stocks led the way. The recovery came after a poor session yesterday with the euro zone debt crisis casting a shadow over European markets. Citigroup upgraded HSBC to “buy” from “hold”, fuelling more confidence in the banking sector. Barclays also climbed as the London Stock [...]
No extra tax on banks as war on City halted January 10, 2011 DAVID Cameron has decided not to slap another tax on City pay or to introduce yet further restrictions on bonuses, it emerged last night. Negotiations are still ongoing about a global lending target for UK banks in 2011, as well as the possibility of getting institutions to disclose more details on high earners. One option would be [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BUY-OUT GROUP GAINS CONTROL OF MADEJSKI’S LARGEST PROJECT Sir John Madejski, the property and publishing tycoon, has sold control over one of Britain’s largest commercial developments to a private equity consortium in the latest debt-driven property transaction. Benson Elliot, the private equity real estate firm, has teamed up with UK developer Stanhope to [...]
Barclays may set up bad bank for weak assets, analysts say January 10, 2011 BARCLAYS could soon start a radical restructuring to spin out a “bad” investment bank to wind down poorly performing assets, analysts said yesterday. Shedding non-core and credit-impaired assets by repackaging them into a separate entity would allow it to meet its looming Basel III capital requirements while maintaining high earnings and dividends to shareholders. Barclays [...]
European fears drag FTSE down January 10, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday hurt by banks, on renewed concerns over the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, and miners dented by weaker metals prices and concerns over the impact of floods in Australia. But Smith & Nephew, Europe’s largest maker of replacement knees and hips, jumped to the top of the blue-chip leaderboard, [...]
Miners and debt concerns leave FTSE lower January 10, 2011 EXCITEMENT over takeover talks at joint replacement specialist Smith & Nephew was not enough to keep the FTSE in positive territory as miners weighed on the index today. The FTSE 100 closed down 37.39 points or 0.6 per cent at 5,946.94 as worries over demand for copper in China and the impact of floods in [...]
ECB bond buying gives Portugal breathing space January 10, 2011 THE European Central Bank has thrown Portugal a temporary lifeline by buying up its bonds, traders said, as pressure mounted on Lisbon to seek an international bailout. Germany, France and other eurozone states have been pushing Portugal to seek EU-IMF assistance, following Greece and Ireland, in a bid to prevent contagion spreading to the eurozone’s [...]