Davos delegates call for single set of regulations January 27, 2010 TOP bankers took a swipe yesterday at US and British moves to tighten regulation of their activities and pay, saying one set of rules were needed to govern the global banking industry. The Group of 20 leading nations have attempted to address the financial crisis through a common global approach, but policymakers came under fire [...]
London slumps to a five-week low led by bank and oil stocks January 27, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a five-week closing low yesterday, dragged down by energy stocks and banks ahead of the conclusion of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting. The FTSE 100 closed down 59.38 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 5,217.47, its lowest close since 18 December. The index gained 0.3 per cent on Tuesday, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 27, 2010 Aviva The insurance giant said yesterday Patrick Regan, its incoming chief financial officer and executive director, will step up to his new role on 22 February. Regan was previously group chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Willis Group, and has also held finance roles in the past at the likes of RSA and [...]
Not all tracking is equal, and it can pay to know which your ETP uses January 27, 2010 ONE of the biggest attractions of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is that they track indices such as the FTSE 100, giving investors exposure to the performance of these benchmarks without requiring them to hold actual shares. In order to replicate the performance of the underlying index as closely as possible, the fund has to include exposure [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 26, 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers Dr Paul Robertson has joined the accountancy giant to lead the crisis management part of its risk and business continuity management services division. A past winner of the CIR Business Continuity Management Consultant of the Year award, Robertson is a regular speaker at industry events. He has spent the past 13 years working as [...]
Eastern Europe currencies will suffer as Greek crisis unfolds January 26, 2010 OBSERVERS of the Greece’s fiscal crisis might be forgiven for thinking that there has been little impact on other countries. The credit default swap markets – which measure the perceived risk of a sovereign debt default – have been remarkably well behaved, with the unsurprising exception of Greece. But if you look more closely at [...]
HSBC chief attacks bankers’ bonuses January 25, 2010 HSBC chairman Stephen Green has launched an attack on bankers’ bonuses branding the sums they have been receiving “inflated”. He said bankers would have to accept lower payouts in the future following the furore surrounding their remuneration packages. Green, who is also chairman of the British Bankers’ Association, said: “You’ve had bonuses paid off gross [...]
Tony Blair takes job at Lansdowne January 25, 2010 TONY Blair is to become a speaker for hedge fund Lansdowne Partners in a deal that is likely to earn the former Prime Minister hundreds of thousands of pounds. The role requires Blair to give a small number of geopolitical talks to the firm’s executives. The former Labour leader’s appointment is surprising, given that Lansdowne [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 25, 2010 Investec The investment bank has hired Paul Bail as a director in its debt advisory team, focusing on expanding its profile in the private equity space. Bail joins from Barclays, where he was managing director of leveraged finance in the financial sponsors group and a board director of Barclays Financial Investments. Prior to that, he [...]
Davos will see bankers fight Obama plans January 24, 2010 THE slopes of Davos will be the unlikely setting for the start of a fightback against the draconian measures being touted by the White House. Bankers from the world’s most powerful financial institutions will begin the mammoth task of lobbying regulators against Barack Obama’s anti-bank legislation at the World Economic Forum, which kicks off on [...]