Banks to cut bonus payments January 19, 2010 CREDIT Suisse yesterday became the first bank to pass on the UK 50 per cent bonus tax to staff. The top 400 UK bankers at the Swiss Institution will see their bonuses cut by more than a third. There will also be a five per cent cut in the global bonus pool, applicable to any [...]
Banking bosses divided over Tory plans for sector reform January 19, 2010 BANKING bosses are divided over George Osborne’s plans to overhaul regulation of the industry, City A.M. has learned. The shadow chancellor met twelve banking bosses for lunch yesterday for what one source at the meeting described as a “full and frank” exchange of views. Those in attendance included HSBC chairman Stephen Green, Barclays chairman Marcus [...]
Credit Suisse: Barclays needs extra capital January 19, 2010 BARCLAYS may have to raise £17bn of fresh capital under new proposals put forward by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, analysts at Credit Suisse warned yesterday. Analyst Jonathan Pierce said Barclays equity tier one capital ratio – which currently stands at 9.6 per cent – could feasibly fall to around five per cent under [...]
Britain is not heading for a hung parliament January 19, 2010 LAST year was tough for the banking industry, but it’s interesting to see which brands fared better than others. The two graphs show the proportion of positive responses each brand received out of the total responses for the set. Graph 1 tracks the three that did relatively well: Barclays, HSBC and National Savings and Investments. [...]
Blackstone-owned Travelport aims to reduce debts after $2bn fund-raising January 19, 2010 TRAVELPORT, the services group operating in the travel industry, yesterday revealed plans to raise $2bn (£1.22bn) to reduce its indebtedness. Travelport is currently around 70 per cent owned by Blackstone, the private equity group. Travelport will be raising $1.775bn through a public offering, and a further $225m will be raised by selling a seven per [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 19, 2010 Collins Stewart The investment banking group’s wealth management division has hired Richard Christmas to its new corporate executive and employee trading (CEET) desk. He joins from Credit Suisse, where he worked with Michael Smith, now head of the CEET desk for Collins Stewart, which provides broker services to listed firms, their employees and third-party share [...]
Drugmakers give FTSE a lift as investors bet on healthcare January 19, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index ended up 0.3 per cent yesterday, led by pharmaceuticals on hopes that US President Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms could be hampered, while banks fell after results from US bank Citigroup. The FTSE 100 index rose 18.75 points to 5,513.14, extending Monday’s gains when the market rose 0.7 per cent. Pharmaceuticals echoed [...]
Greece woes spoil continental party January 18, 2010 EUROPEAN shares rose in early trade yesterday, recovering some of Friday’s losses, with miners gaining on higher metals prices. In morning trading, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 1,058.15 points. Miners were among early gainers, as copper rose on hope that strong Chinese demand could cut inventories. Precious metals were also [...]
Miners lend muscle to FTSE as banks shake off US blues January 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index took on 0.7 per cent yesterday, as heavyweight mining issues rallied with firmer metal prices, while banks moved higher awaiting further earnings news from US peers. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 39.02 points higher at 5,494.39, albeit in subdued trade with US markets closed for Martin Luther King [...]
BROKER WILLS & CO OPENS FIRE ON FSA’S REGULATORY CRACKDOWN January 18, 2010 WHEREAS most City firms are content to whinge ineffectually about the Financial Services Authority’s new heavy-handed approach to regulation, it seems that others are starting to put their money where their mouth is. Rumours have been busy swirling in the Square Mile over the regulatory status of private client stockbroker Wills & Co, which can [...]