Black swans get into the Christmas spirit December 9, 2012 THE official 12 days of Christmas may not start until 25 December itself, but hundreds of Canary Wharf workers will be getting in the spirit a little early by taking part in a festive run around the Docklands this Wednesday. To liven up proceedings, children’s charity Starlight – which organises the run to raise money to [...]
Boris joins Olympic volunteers for carols December 9, 2012 MORE than 3,500 Olympic volunteers donned familiar pink uniforms for a Christmas concert in Trafalgar Square this weekend, organised by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. The games makers enjoyed carols led by Britain’s Got Talent’s Jonathan & Charlotte, as the Mayor revealed his team of ambassadors would be making a comeback over the festive period, [...]
Christmas is the ideal time to revive the City’s tradition of charitable giving December 9, 2012 FEAR that the UK could slip into a triple-dip recession heightened last week, as the services sector posted an unexpected slowdown. Yet remarkably, over half of us are still giving to good causes, despite the challenging economic outlook. This encouragingly high proportion of the population, includes many in the Square Mile. Contrary to myth, City [...]
Old boys return to haunt injury prone Hammers December 9, 2012 WEST HAM UNITED 2 vs LIVERPOOL 3 WEST HAM manager Sam Allardyce urged his team to dig deep for the Christmas period, after losing yet another key player to injury during yesterday’s defeat to Liverpool. Glen Johnson and Joe Cole returned to haunt their former club with two superb strikes, the latter coming after Mohamed [...]
HSBC expects to be hit with $1.8bn charge over laundering December 6, 2012 HSBC is likely to face a bigger than expected fine from the US authorities, after lax controls allowed terrorists and drug dealers to launder money through its accounts. The bank had already pencilled in a $1.5bn (£935m) hit, but it is now thought the fine could come in at $1.8bn. But markets held steady, as [...]
Rolls-Royce hit by allegations of corruption December 6, 2012 ROLLS-ROYCE could face prosecution after handing over details of possible bribery and corruption in its overseas operations. The firm said it had given the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) information about allegations of malpractice in Indonesia and China, and has identified “matters of concern” in these and other countries. The allegations, which have not been revealed, [...]
CIBC gets in the Xmas mood on its Miracle Day December 6, 2012 ‘TIS the season and alongside mince pies, carols and tinsel, charity trading days are fast becoming the traditional way to celebrate Christmas in the Square Mile. Just a day after Icap’s annual charity extravaganza, Canadian Bank CIBC yesterday hosted its Miracle Day with all fees and commissions from its London wholesale banking employees going to [...]
Super Sunday sees eBay visits from mobile devices double December 6, 2012 VISITS to eBay through mobile devices almost doubled to three million last Sunday as shoppers started their festive shopping spree, data out yesterday showed. The surge on Sunday 2 December – dubbed Super Sunday – marked one of the busiest days for the site and helped drive purchases on eBay in the UK to 25 [...]
Hope for America’s jobs market as dole queues shorten to levels seen before superstorm Sandy December 6, 2012 THE NUMBER of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has fallen back to levels seen prior to October’s superstorm Sandy. Data for last week’s new jobless claims, released yesterday, suggests a return to modest job growth after a storm-related set-back to the employment sector. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 25,000 to a seasonally [...]
Black Swan author challenges the belief that pressure is bad for the economy December 6, 2012 BANKS should be more like cats than washing machines. So suggests Nassim Taleb, ex-trader and controversial author of The Black Swan, who has a new book out in time for Christmas. What he means is that living things – cats, economists, bankers – display a property that even our best-designed machinery lacks: a quality that [...]