Top economic forecaster Martin Weale to join Bank’s rate-setting committee July 5, 2010 LEADING economist Martin Weale has been appointed as an external member of the?Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by chancellor George Osborne. The director of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) will join the MPC in time for the August rate-setting meeting and the forecast round leading up to it, the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 5, 2010 SWIP The Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has appointed Ramsay Urquhart as its new finance director and part of the executive committee, reporting directly to managing director Dean Buckley. Urquhart joins from Barclays Wealth, where he has been head of investment operations since September 2006. Prior to that, he spent 14 years at Dutch financial services [...]
Weak banks and miners hurt FTSE July 5, 2010 WEAK banks and miners, beset by doubts over the health of the global economic recovery, pulled down Britain’s top share yesterday, while BP rose on media reports it is seeking a strategic investor. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 14.56 points, or 0.3 per cent at 4,823.53, having ended 0.7 per cent [...]
Rates to stay on hold but tensions rise July 4, 2010 TENSIONS are growing within the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) but they are not yet sufficient to cause a hike in interest rates from the current level of 0.5 per cent, economists say. The minutes of the June meeting showed that Andrew Sentance voted for a 0.25 per cent rise while the other [...]
HOW MUCH TENSION IS THERE AMONGST BANK OF ENGLAND MPC MEMBERS? July 4, 2010 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP “Recent MPC comments hint at a vigorous debate, and some members appear to believe that a broader range of factors is behind the pick-up in inflation. If inflation expectations continue to rise then the MPC could feel obliged to hike rates to show they take the inflation target seriously.” PHILIP SHAW [...]
Q&A: EUROPEAN BANK STRESS TESTS July 1, 2010 Q.How will Europe stress test its banks? A.Originally, EU regulators planned to test just 25 large, cross-border banks, including Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, France’s BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, and Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds. Now they’re expected to cover banks holding about half the banking assets in each country. [...]
Barclays sees forecasts cut July 1, 2010 ANALYSTS slashed their forecasts for Barclays yesterday after the British bank warned of weakness in second quarter investment banking revenues and difficulties in Spain. Barclays shares fell 5.6 per cent to 255p following guidance from finance director Chris Lucas that “investment banking market conditions in May and June have been softer, in particular reflecting lower [...]
Q&A: BEHIND THE BONUS NOISE July 1, 2010 Q.how long has this been brewing for? A.The European Union’s strictures on bonuses are part of a wider directive demanding higher capital requirements from banks and a new attitude to risk-taking. Work began in earnest around a year ago, and MEPs have been explicit in linking the overhaul to the events of the financial crisis [...]
BoE: Mortgage crunch ahead July 1, 2010 HOMEBUYERS were warned yesterday by the Bank of England that it would be more difficult for them to obtain a mortgage over the coming quarter as lenders anticipated a tightening in wholesale funding market conditions. Availability of secured credit had risen slightly in the three months to early June 2010, the Bank said. However, individuals’ [...]
Barclays in Japanese wealth management deal July 1, 2010 UK banking giant Barclays and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said they would launch a wealth management joint venture in Japan, targeting individuals with at least 500 million yen (£3.8m) to invest. Japan’s third-largest bank by assets acquired a two per cent stake in Barclays for about $1bn in 2008 and the two have been preparing [...]