The City is back but under new management December 21, 2010 BRITAIN’S financial landscape has been transformed since we last shone a light on the City’s most powerful figures two years ago. The City A.M./CityJet Power Hundred 2011 list ranks the most influential figures in UK finance as we head into the new year. It should be no surprise that it is very different from 2009. [...]
Government meeting with banks “constructive” but overshadowed by Cable December 21, 2010 GOVERNMENT ministers have said talks with bank bosses were “constructive” but their efforts to pressure them to rein in bonuses and step up lending have been overshadowed by the row engulfing Vince Cable. The business secretary, the coalition’s most vocal opponent of bankers’ pay, was at the meeting, but has spent the day under fire [...]
Relapse for consumer confidence in the Eurozone, as trade deficit grows December 20, 2010 HOPES for a retailing resurgence across the Eurozone took a hit yesterday, with news that consumer confidence has dropped more sharply than expected. In November the confidence index rose to a 35-month high, yet appears set to drop in December, according to the European Commission’s “flash” reading. The full reading for the month will be [...]
CABLE TO BANKS: I WON’T BE BULLIED December 19, 2010 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable is on the warpath over bankers’ bonuses, announcing yesterday that he doesn’t care if tougher rules cause an exodus of financial firms from the UK. “We’re not going to be bullied,” he said, in relation to companies’ threats to leave the country due to an inability to recruit top talent. He [...]
Keeping a lookout for possible shocks December 19, 2010 MAY YOU live in interesting times may sound like a blessing, but in ancient China, it was considered a curse. Spread betters may be divided on which they think it is, but 2011 certainly looks likely to be interesting. Next year could see more bank crises in Europe, burst bubbles in Asia and painful austerity [...]
Are Manchester United really about to become Qatar’s latest high-profile buy? December 19, 2010 WHEN Manchester United visited Qatar in January it was touted as a sunshine break, a chance for their title-chasing players to escape from the freezing conditions gripping England at the start of the year. But it also prompted whispers that the country’s most famous club were sounding out appetite to invest in United, or even [...]
Bob Diamond to take Barclays hotseat early December 17, 2010 Barclays said its investment bank boss Bob Diamond will take over as chief executive of the bank in two weeks, some three months earlier than planned. Diamond is taking over from John Varley, who is stepping down after six years as chief executive. The bank announced the change in September, when it said the handover [...]
THE MEN GOING PAUNCH TO PAUNCH IN 2010 FAT BANKERS COMPETITION December 16, 2010 WITH another eight days to go before the turkey is even dished out, some of us may have already had our share of mince pies and bucks fizz. But not everyone has been so indulgent. Two bankers in particular have successfully resisted the temptations of the festive season and are on track to shed almost [...]
Inflation fear up, but Posen unconcerned December 16, 2010 SUPPORTERS of a rise in interest rates were compared to “global warming deniers” yesterday by a leading Bank of England rate setter. Adam Posen said that judging the economy on “temporary” high inflation and growth levels was like denying global warming “every time we had a bad winter.” Expecting economic conditions to continue was similar [...]
High street sales edge up in November but retailers sweat over big item sales December 16, 2010 HIGH street sales were up in November, official figures showed yesterday. Sales rose 1.1 per cent on the previous year, and have now increased for every month since February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The news came as John Lewis announced a sales boost of 12 per cent so far this week, [...]