Prudential share price plummets on reports Chinese regulators are tightening insurance restrictions February 2, 2016 A temporary suspension of shares in Prudential was triggered this afternoon, after its share price fell more than eight per cent. The fall came after Bloomberg reported China's currency regulator was tightening restrictions on its citizens buying insurance products from overseas. Purchases of insurance products using UnionPay credit and debit cards will be capped at $5,000 [...]
City Moves for 22 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 22, 2016 RateSetter Marketplace lender RateSetter has appointed Paul Marston as head of SME lending and Angela Yotov as head of legal. Paul joins from Secure Trust Bank, a challenger bank, where he was managing director of the business and commercial division which provides funding for SMEs and property development loans. Prior to that he was a [...]
Blockchain payment revolution: How to ensure confidence in twenty-first century transactions January 22, 2016 We are on the threshold of a revolution in financial services which promises extraordinary leaps in efficiency for all kinds of transactions. And arguably the biggest obstacle to our society reaping the full benefit of this findustrial revolution is the issue of trust in transactions. When stock exchanges developed centuries ago, a handshake between (predominantly) [...]
As challenger banks, fintech and digital payments take off, here are four reasons why 2016 will be the year banks are on the run January 20, 2016 Until recently, managing your money meant dealing with a bank. For both businesses and individuals they were pretty much the only game in town. But that’s no longer the case. Thanks to digital challengers, tech startups and the ongoing fallout from the financial crisis, banks face huge competition in all areas of their business. Each [...]
Swiss Market Index plummets, down 3.5 per cent mid-morning January 20, 2016 The Swiss Market Index (SMI) fell dramatically this morning, down 3.5 per cent by mid-morning to 7,938.86, from a previous close of 8,223.76. Particularly poor performers included Zurich Insurance Group, which fell 8.4 per cent, offshore drilling company Transocean, which dropped 5.4 per cent, and Credit Suisse Group, which tumbled 4.8 per cent. Zurich's announcement [...]
City Moves for 18 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 18, 2016 Ardian Olivier Piani (pictured) has joined the real estate arm of independent private investment company Ardian as senior adviser and chairman of its investment committee. He joins from Allianz Real Estate where he was chief executive since 2008. Olivier has also been chief exec at GE Capital Real Estate Europe, chief exec of UIC-Sofal and [...]
City Moves for 14 January 2016 | Who’s switching jobs January 14, 2016 Capital Access Group Investor engagement adviser Capital Access Group has announced that Bruce Packard has joined its investor analytics team. Bruce has 15 years’ experience in the City and has been part of several highly ranked banks’ teams. Having covered the UK banking sector since 2000 at Credit Suisse, ING, Societe Generale, Evolution and Seymour [...]
Alternative finance can unlock the potential of small developers to tackle Britain’s housing crisis January 13, 2016 Hearing that the Prime Minister plans to open up public sector land for small-scale developments was a great way to start the year. Gaining access to land is a major hurdle that keeps too many small property development companies out of the market. All initiatives to correct that should be welcomed. Yet lack of land [...]
Cyber siege: What businesses should learn from 2015’s hacks against TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse and Wetherspoons December 23, 2015 We will remember the past year in IT security as yet another in which cyber-attackers have got the better of major organisations, from the US government’s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and health insurance giant Anthem over in the States, Hong Kong-based toy manufacturer VTech and Japanese-owned Hello Kitty brand, through to [...]
City Moves for 14 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 13, 2015 MARKETFORM Robert Brown has joined specialist underwriting firm Marketform as global practice leader of its M&A Insurance operations, heading up a team specialist underwriters and lawyers who are responsible underwriting complex transactions to provide bespoke warranty and indemnity and tax insurance products. Robert has more than 20 years’ worth of underwriting experience and has previously [...]