A law of unintended consequences haunts those who rewrite the rules September 14, 2010 WHEN rival financial centres rewrote their rulebooks to their own disadvantage, London pounced. If current proposals are mishandled, the City’s competitors will be more than ready for the chance to steal back some of the UK’s financial thunder. In the last half-century, America’s regulators have unwittingly been some of the City’s best friends. Their generosity [...]
LSE warns on City threat September 13, 2010 THE London Stock Exchange (LSE) yesterday made public its opposition to government proposals to merge the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) arguing the move would deny the City a voice in Europe, reduce the capital’s competitiveness and ultimately cost jobs. “We care deeply about the competitiveness of the UK’s IPO [...]
City fears new listing rules September 12, 2010 GOVERNMENT proposals to place the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) under the control of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) rather than the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CMPA) are causing concern in the City, with some warning that the new system will make London less competitive. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is believed to be lobbying [...]
Strikes and Brussels cripple London September 6, 2010 BY one estimate, today’s strikes will cost London £50m. That is hugely expensive for an exercise in grandstanding by politically motivated militants – and it fails to quantify intangible costs such as stress, inconvenience and general misery. Anyway, if you are reading this in a print copy of City A.M., congratulations – you’ve made it [...]
Planting the seeds of another crisis September 2, 2010 FOR some bizarre reason, the creation of three new European Supervisory Authorities and the European Systemic Risk Board – a major power-grab for Brussels – was welcomed last night by Conservative MEPs. Vicky Ford, one of their numbers who took part in the negotiations, admitted that “this is very complex multi-layered legislation and it needs [...]
After a slump and a court case the Virgin airline boss is ready for more August 30, 2010 Virgin Atlantic boss Steve Ridgway is still dealing with the fallout from the collapse of a price-fixing trial involving his airline. Despite not actually facing any charges, his firm, which has always styled itself as the people’s champion, was battered and bruised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) case, which alleged collusion between Virgin [...]
The late-night bank manager is planning a High Street revolution August 8, 2010 THE revolution in High Street banking has begun. That’s the bold claim of Craig Donaldson, chief executive of Metro Bank, the first addition to Britain’s retail banking scene in 100 years. And ground zero is the corner of High Holborn and Southampton Row, where its inaugural branch opened a couple of weeks ago. “The revolution has [...]
Government should scrap new City watchdog, says think-tank August 3, 2010 THE coalition’s plans for financial reform will do little to benefit supervisors, banks or the stock market, according to research by the free-market think-tank the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). Any replacement of the FSA will not prevent financial scandals, the IEA argues in a research paper, which says UK regulators have historically lacked proper [...]
EU in push for market clarity July 29, 2010 EUROPEAN Union regulators proposed radical changes in the way the region’s securities markets operate yesterday so that investors have a complete snapshot of prices currently fragmented by fierce competition. Heavy lobbying by bourses for their new rivals to face the same tough rules as themselves appears to have paid off. In-house trading by big banks [...]
PIMCO’S GROSS LOWERS THE TONE WITH A TOUCH OF TOILET HUMOUR July 28, 2010 FULL marks to Pimco managing director Bill Gross, who has excelled even his own high standards of witty repartee in his latest Investment Outlook newsletter. The most recent missive is dedicated to none other than the humble toilet – more specifically, the advent of electronic “eye” sensors in place of a manual flushing system. “It’s [...]