Founder of K1 under arrest October 29, 2009 GERMAN authorities placed Helmut Kiener, founder of Germany’s K1 hedge fund group, under arrest yesterday in a multi-million-dollar corruption probe of a Caribbean- registered fund he ran. His arrest warrant said Barclays and BNP Paribas may have lost millions of dollars in the case, which prosecutors say spanned the Atlantic and featured lavish personal spending [...]
Stocks in London rise on end of US recession and miners October 29, 2009 BETTER-than-expected economic growth from the United States and gains in banks and miners pushed Britain’s leading share index 1.1 percent higher yesterday. The FTSE 100 closed up 57.30 points at 5,137.72, reversing earlier losses, as US data signalled the country had come out of recession. The index has gained 49 per cent since hitting a [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 29, 2009 MarshThe insurance broker and risk adviser has hired Simon Curtis as chief operating officer of its UK operations, based in London. He succeeds Ian Clarke, who continues as a board member and a member of the firm’s international executive group. Curtis joins from Jardine Lloyd Thompson, which he joined in 2000 after its acquisition of [...]
Glass ceiling hasn’t been smashed yet October 29, 2009 BRITAIN has slipped to 15th in the international league table for gender equality, it emerged yesterday, as a number of high-profile City women told City A.M. that they believed that glass ceiling still exists. Britain has slid to 15th place, down from 9th in 2006 for gender equality, according to the World Economic Fund. Top [...]
NOMURA PREPARING FOR OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE VARSITY CLASH October 29, 2009 THE City’s rugby aficionados and former Oxbridge contingent are already gearing up for this year’s Varsity match, which is being sponsored for the second year running by Japanese bank Nomura. Nomura stepped in at the last minute to save the day after it rescued the European operations of failed bank Lehman Brothers, the event’s former [...]
Standard Life hit as market woes return October 29, 2009 INSURER Standard Life yesterday reported a 15 per cent fall in sales for the first nine months of the year. The drop reflected weak financial markets and was broadly in line with forecasts. Britain’s fourth-biggest insurer by market value, revealed that life and pensions sales for the nine months to 30 September were £10.5bn – [...]
When you are betting on the oil price, timing is all-important October 28, 2009 JUST how high can the oil price go? It broke through $80 last week, and in the past few days Barclays Capital analysts said that they think that oil has now made the transition into a higher trading band and a sustained improvement in demand should continue eating into excess inventories. The chances of oil [...]
City Moves for 29 October 2009 | Who’s switching jobs October 28, 2009 Financial Services Skills CouncilThe FSSC has appointed Legal & General’s Adrian Clark and Santander’s Bernadette Brown, pictured, to its board of directors. Clark is L&G’s chief operating officer for protection throughout the UK as well as director of its Cardiff site. Brown is a human resources business partner for Santander’s UK businesses, based in the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 28, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LOVELLS IN MERGER TALKS TO CREATE LEGAL FIRMLovells, the City law firm, was in talks on last night over a merger with Washington-based Hogan & Hartson aimed at creating a rare successful big transatlantic legal tie-up, said people familiar with the matter. The proposed deal would create a law firm with a strong [...]
BGGroup’s poor results push FTSE100 to three week low October 28, 2009 BRITAIN’s top shares fell 2.3 per cent to hit a three-week closing low yesterday, dragged down by falls in energy stocks after BG Group posted a sharp drop in net profit, while miners tracked weaker metals. The market also came under pressure on data showing new US homes sales unexpectedly tumbled in September, their first [...]