A windfall tax on banks is a bad idea October 7, 2009 IT is now clear that the Tories have it in for the banks. I wrote in this space yesterday about their interest in reviving a version of Lord Howe’s 1981 windfall tax on high street banks; we now know in much more detail one of the ideas they are working on, courtesy of revelations in [...]
Barclays chews over substantial wealth management acquisition October 7, 2009 BARCLAYS is mulling over the acquisition of a substantial wealth management business to boost its global private banking presence, the firm revealed yesterday. Gerard Aquilina, the vice-chairman of the group’s private banking arm Barclays Wealth, said the bank would be prepared to stump up for a business at least the size of 120-year-old Swiss firm [...]
Insurers fail to lift the FTSE as investors await US results October 7, 2009 BRITAIN’S leading shares closed lower yesterday as falls in oil majors and food retailers offset gains in insurers as investors waited for the start of the earnings seasons in the US to give a fresh direction. The FTSE 100 closed down 29.08 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,108.90, after ending 2.3 per cent higher [...]
Lloyds and Barclays facing suit October 6, 2009 Lloyds and Barclays are facing a group legal action from mortgage borrowers who took out shared appreciation mortgages (SAMs) where they released equity from their houses. The High Court has granted an order for the group of more than 300 to sue the banks on the basis the products were unfair.
ASSET MANAGEMENT’S FINEST ON SPARKLING FORM IN WESTMINSTER October 6, 2009 IT WAS off to the Banqueting House on Whitehall last night to celebrate with the great and the good of the asset management world, toasting themselves at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Institutional Asset Management for having survived one of the most dire years the industry has ever seen. There were, of course, [...]
FTSE100 puts in best day in months amid renewed hopes October 6, 2009 THE top share index closed 2.3 per cent higher yesterday, its best gain in three months, as commodity and bank shares rallied on renewed hopes over the gathering pace of the global economic recovery, ahead of the third-quarter US earnings season. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 113.65 points at 5137.98, after closing [...]
Upbeat economic sentiment boosts FTSE to above 5,000 October 5, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed higher yesterday after US Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing data came in better than forecast, with miners and banks the best performing sectors. The index closed up 35.63 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,024.33, after tumbling nearly 60 points on Friday to a near three-week closing low below the 5,000 [...]
US stocks shoot up on stronger data October 5, 2009 US stocks shot higher yesterday, ending a four-day losing streak as optimism about upcoming earnings gathered steam and data showed the services sector expanded for the first time since August 2008. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 112.08 points, or 1.18 per cent, at 9,599.75. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed up 15.23 [...]
Barclays eyes Standard Life banking arm October 4, 2009 BARCLAYS is set to enter exclusive talks which could see it snap up Standard Life’s banking division, after rival suitors walked away. The bank, led by chief executive John Varley, is expected to be granted exclusivity by the insurer later this week after it expressed strong interest in the arm, which has been valued at [...]
Legal &General buyout talk continues to dominate FTSE October 1, 2009 TALK that blue chip insurer Legal & General is to be a target for Clive Cowdery’s Resolution buyout vehicle continued yesterday. Traders were saying that L&Ghas already been approached by Cowdery, despite the fact his buyout vehicle is currently in a closed period ahead of its merger with rival insurer Friends Provident. But City A.M. [...]