TONIGHT WILL BE A NIGHT FOR HEARTY CELEBRATION October 27, 2010 THIS evening will see 450 guests in their finery roll up at the Grange hotel at St Paul’s, as City A.M. proudly hosts its first ever awards ceremony honouring the UK’s business stars and City luminaries. The award winners will come from a diverse range of sectors, from investment to retail banking, fund management and [...]
Investors: You have nothing to lose but your premiums October 27, 2010 BACK in 2002, covered warrants were launched on the London Stock Exchange with grand fanfare. And nobody cared. The products turned out to be something of a flop, with only £886,000 changing hands in the first week of trading. There is nothing intrinsically bad about covered warrants, however. In fact, they are quite remarkable – [...]
Strong GDP growth dashes chances of further QE October 26, 2010 THE UK’s unexpectedly strong growth last quarter will mean the Bank of England will keep the presses off and delay any restart to quantitative easing (QE), according to City economists. Preliminary growth figures released yesterday showed that the economy smashed consensus forecasts of 0.4 per cent to surge 0.8 per cent from July to September. [...]
Brit insurance has accepted £888m offer October 26, 2010 BRIT Insurance yesterday accepted a formal offer from private equity firms Apollo Management and CVC Capital Partners, which values Brit at up to £888m. The offer from Apollo and CVC, which have formed a new company called Achilles to make the offer, values the Lloyds of London insurer at £10.75 per share but includes a [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WILL GDP GROWTH HOLD UP DURING THE REST OF 2010? October 26, 2010 ROSS WALKER | RBS These things are never linear – it’s not unusual to get erratic data at a turning point. We are going to see a rebalancing of the economy, which is an awfully good thing but also involves a bit of pain. GRAEME LEACH | INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS The GDP numbers are better [...]
Weak bank figures send FTSE lower October 26, 2010 WEAK banks helped drive Britain’s top share index to a lower close yesterday, with sentiment hit by a loss at UBS’s investment bank and as investors locked in profits after sharp gains over the last two months. The FTSE 100 closed 44.68 points, or 0.8 per cent, lower at 5,707.30, its biggest one-day percentage drop [...]
Diamond: Let bad banks go bankrupt… October 25, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond yesterday said no bank should ever again have to fall back on the taxpayer for a bailout, as he argued that the future stability of the banking system lies in the successful implementation of “living wills”. “Strong banks want strong regulation,” Diamond said, referring to the raft of regulatory changes currently [...]
Barclays warns of consolidation October 25, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond yesterday predicted that the avalanche of new financial regulation will spark a wave of consolidation across the banking sector, as struggling banks are swallowed up by more successful rivals. Diamond, answering questions from delegates at the CBI’s annual conference, said that higher capital requirements in particular would mean that banks will [...]
Small businesses in London score big win in profits, jobs and growth October 24, 2010 SMALL businesses in London are leading the way in making money and creating jobs in the UK, a study showed. The capital, the south west of the country and Wales top the index of small businesses making substantial contributions to their home regions, according to the Barclays Business Regional Impact Index. The survey ranked regions on [...]
Meet the CEO of the most important City firm you have never heard of October 24, 2010 As he saunters into his office in the City, Tim Howell, the chief executive of European settlement house Euroclear, looks cool and collected. He certainly doesn’t look like a man caught in the most classic of all business squeezes – with clients wanting him to improve his services while being adamant they should pay less [...]