FTSE weighed down by talk of more banking rights issues October 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, dragged down by banks on worries about rights issues in the sector, while mobile phone heavyweight Vodafone rose following an upgrade from Nomura. The FTSE 100 ended down 20.14 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,727.21, after gaining 1.5 per cent on Wednesday to its highest closing level [...]
John Laing to float infrastructure fund October 14, 2010 Infrastructure group John Laing has announced its intention to list an infrastructure fund in London raising up to £270m. Laing, owned by asset manager Henderson Group, will sell up to £256m of yielding infrastructure assets to the newly formed John Laing Infrastructure Fund, in a move that was flagged up earlier this month. This forms [...]
Damages claim will be very difficult, warn legal experts October 13, 2010 TOM HICKS and George Gillett turned to US courts after Mr Justice Floyd’s emphatic verdict in the High Court gave them virtually no chance of appeal and only a slim hope of pursuing a claim for damages, sports law experts told City A.M. The judge’s verdict that the Liverpool owners were not entitled to sack [...]
Banks in bid to boost lending October 13, 2010 Britain’s biggest banks have outlined a raft of measures to boost lending to small businesses, including a £1.5bn growth fund, in a bid to counter suggestions they are not doing enough to nurture the recovery. HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered and the UK operations of Santander will contribute to [...]
At last, the banks are reaching out to UK Plc October 13, 2010 THERE are two possible ways forward for the banking industry. The first is to do nothing and try and brave out the storm, chucking the occasional insult at detractors. The second is to show some humility, reach out, make sensible reforms – and invest some of its own cash – to improve matters and fight [...]
Ex-JPM Caz chief Kheraj joins Lazard October 13, 2010 FORMER JP Morgan Cazenove chief executive Naguib Kheraj has agreed to join Lazard as chief executive of its international business, which is chaired by Ken Costa. The surprise move came after widespread speculation in the City that Kheraj, who also held the finance director role at Barclays in the past, was among the top candidates [...]
Terry Smith stands aside to focus on fund business October 13, 2010 City veteran Terry Smith is retiring as a director and deputy chairman of stockbroker Collins Stewart to focus on his new asset management venture Fundsmith. Smith, one of the UK’s best-known investment bankers who led the management buyout of Collins Stewart after becoming chief executive in 2000, will remain chief executive of inter-dealer broker Tullett [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 13, 2010 PwC The accountancy firm has appointed three new senior managers to its business continuity team, part of the risk assurance practice. Tom Buchanan, who previously worked at Barclays and Tesco, joins the crisis management team. James Cooke joins from Deloitte to focus on IT disaster and service recovery planning, while James Crask (pictured) will develop [...]
Time to offload Lloyds to save the City’s skin October 12, 2010 Politics can be so unpredictable that a week seems a long time, but there is one prediction that can be made with certainty: a car crash between bankers and politicians just in time for Christmas. The fall out could be so severe that it could lead to the demise of London as a financial services [...]
BARCAP VICE-CHAIR TO BACK CITY WOMEN IN PLURAL DIRECTOR ROLE October 12, 2010 BARCLAYS Capital vice-chairman Gay Huey Evans has long been a trailblazer for women in the Square Mile, but she’ll be even more influential in her advocacy for greater female participation at the top echelons of the City in her new role as a “plural” board director. Huey Evans left BarCap yesterday after a long and [...]