After the Nvidelity comes the Huangover. Jensen Huang joins long list who confused boardroom and bedroom
Black Monday and why confidence is the key to revival October 18, 2012 TODAY is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Black Monday, when stock markets around the world spectacularly crashed and the FTSE 100 plunged from over 2,300 to depths of near 1,500. Although 1987 is long ago, and we’ve reasonably moved on to consider more recent financial disasters, Britain’s return to confidence then holds lessons for politicians and [...]
Barclays increases PPI provision by £700m October 18, 2012 Barclays has set aside a further £700m to cover Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims, after experiencing higher than expected claim volumes since the end of June. It takes its overall provision to £2bn from £1.3bn. UK banks have set aside more than £10bn to cover claims relating to the mis-selling of PPI. PPI policies were [...]
Progress for RBS as it drops state insurance cover October 17, 2012 STATE-BACKED bank RBS yesterday exited the scheme set up to insure its toxic assets at the height of the financial crisis, indicating the lender and regulators have confidence that it is moving back to health. The Asset Protection Scheme (APS) was established to backstop a £282bn portfolio of risky loans and investments, as part of [...]
Too big to fail insurers will be forced to stockpile more capital October 17, 2012 INTERNATIONAL regulators want “systemically important” insurance firms to hold extra capital to safeguard the rest of the financial system if they go bust. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors set out plans yesterday to avoid insurers becoming too big to fail, by separating traditional insurance activities from riskier ones such as credit default swaps, and [...]
Banks will protect your reputation in the online market October 17, 2012 PEOPLE are becoming increasingly empowered in their interactions with companies. But this is only the beginning. Soon, people will be using the assets of their reputations to make all their dealings with businesses easier. And banks are well placed to be the custodians of this data. For example, buying a car is currently a headache. [...]
It might be prime time to refinance October 14, 2012 HISTORICALLY low interest rates and government schemes mean that it may make sense, for some borrowers at least, to remortgage their homes. But data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders serves as a stark reminder as to how tight conditions still are. In 2011, £46.6bn worth of remortgages were taken out by borrowers in 375,000 [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs October 11, 2012 Reech AiM Group The international asset management group has appointed Daniel Betts as client services director. He joins Reech from Aviva Investors, where he was most recently client relationship manager. He will oversee all client service functions and will report directly to the chief executive officer Christophe Reech. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Neil Tong has [...]
Motor insurers hit by Moody’s October 4, 2012 RATINGS agency Moody’s yesterday said the Competition Commission’s (CC) probe into the UK car insurance industry will negatively impact the credit outlook of major insurers. Firms affected by the announcement include market leader Direct Line, which is due to float on the London Stock Exchange next week. “The CC’s investigation is credit negative because at [...]
Brussels accused of ignoring its regulator on hedging rules September 26, 2012 BRITAIN and Germany have hit out at the European Commission (EC) for ignoring expert advice on new short-selling and hedging rules and failing to give any reasons why, papers published yesterday revealed. Four other countries joined them in objecting to the EC brushing aside recommendations from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s [...]
Ex-FDIC chair calls for stricter rules September 26, 2012 US banks should have the amount they can borrow against their equity halved, according to Sheila Bair, the former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Bair’s memoir of the financial crisis, “Bulls by the Horns”, said banks should have a borrowing ratio of eight per cent, rather than the current four per cent, [...]