RESTAURATEURS FLOCK TO RENT 1 BISHOPSGATE IN CITY’S DINING BOOM August 22, 2011 IT IS not big enough for the new headquarters of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, which requires a capacious 100,000 square feet. But the four vacant office units at 1 Bishopsgate have attracted a “healthy level of interest” from insurance, finance, shipping, software and law firms – even a handful of hedge funds [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS RAISED AS “LACK OF CAUTION” FUELS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES Commercial real estate values have been spurred by a “lack of caution” on the back of an “astonishing” rebound in lending to the sector, according to one of the largest global fund managers. LaSalle Investment e, which manages $45bn (£27bn) of real estate [...]
World Bank chief hits out at politicians August 14, 2011 POLITICIANS in Europe and the US must wake up to the severe loss of market confidence in their economic leadership, the head of the World Bank said last night in Australia. Recent events “have pushed us into a new danger zone,” Robert Zoellick (pictured) warned, arguing that substantial reforms to government spending commitments are required. [...]
Credit rating agencies caught in political web August 7, 2011 NEXT Tuesday marks the three-year anniversary of Moody’s downgrading nearly 700 mortgage-backed bonds. As the subprime crisis ploughed on, the move followed thousands of other screeching U-turns on mortgage-backed assets by the three main credit rating agencies – S&P, Fitch and Moody’s. The trio’s cash cow had come back to bite, with a wave of [...]
When good news turns out to be bad July 28, 2011 SOMETIMES, it is hard not to be a glass half empty kind of person, even though I always try to see the bright side of life. Take the news yesterday that Britain’s borrowing costs fell below equivalent American rates for the first time in almost two years. The reason, of course, was the US debt [...]
Traders are better at managing risk than the regulators June 20, 2011 UNEASE about the information provided to some Contracts for Difference (CFD) customers has caused concern to the financial authorities in Ireland. This has no direct implication for UK traders, but it is worth revisiting the current regulations and risks of CFD trading. Ultimately, all good traders must take responsibility for their own risk exposures. Last [...]
NEWS FROM IATA AIRLINE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE June 7, 2011 Boeing says it will defend the supremacy of its 777 BOEING vowed yesterday to defend its successful 777 wide-body aircraft and signalled it feels under no immediate pressure to respond to a reported challenge from European rival Airbus. Industry sources revealed on Monday that Airbus planned to place a bigger engine on one variant of [...]
Why planning laws must not damage the City June 5, 2011 IT is easy to forget that between the tall buildings and the state of the art office blocks and in amongst the fashionable bars and high-end restaurants, substantial parts of the Square Mile are hundreds of years old. But while the City of London Corporation is rightly proud of the City’s heritage and goes to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FORMER TESCO CHIEF PUTS MONEY INTO NICOTINE A medical devices group developing non-tobacco nicotine delivery systems has won the backing of Sir Terry Leahy in the latest private investment by the former Tesco chief executive since he retired in March. Sir Terry has put an undisclosed sum behind Kind Consumer, a start-up that [...]
BAT in $452m swoop to buy Protabaco May 26, 2011 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) said yesterday it had agreed to buy the privately owned Productora Tabacalera de Colombia, the second largest cigarette company in Colombia, for $452m (£277m). The London-based second biggest cigarette maker in the world said the deal will elevate it to second from third place in Colombia, Latin America’s fourth largest cigarette [...]