As Britain falls further in recession, does the Treasury need a change of direction? July 25, 2012 YES Sam Bowman With yesterday’s news that the economy shrunk by 0.7 per cent in the last quarter, George Osborne’s economic credibility is waning. But not for the reasons produced by Ed Balls. “Austerity” hasn’t failed because it hasn’t been tried. State spending has risen during this Parliament. The chancellor oversold a small cuts package [...]
Turner wants to take Bank job July 24, 2012 TOP regulator Lord Turner yesterday said he would consider running for governor at the Bank of England, confirming his position as one of the favourites to take the role when Sir Mervyn King’s term ends at the end of June next year. In a wide ranging speech and interview the Financial Services Authority (FSA) boss [...]
Switching bank accounts is easier than many imagine July 22, 2012 IF YOU only sourced financial advice from politicians, you might think switching bank accounts is next to impossible. Ed Miliband pledged that a Labour government would revolutionise banking by clearing hurdles to changing banks. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls alleged that “it’s very difficult to change bank accounts.” If you don’t like your bank’s behaviour – [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2012 Inflexion Private Equity The private equity house has announced the promotion of Richard Swann from the position of investment director to its partnership. He joined Inflexion in 2008, and has since led several of its investments. Swann’s promotion follows the firm’s recent appointments in Brazil, India and China. Coutts Johnny Heng has been appointed managing [...]
Coller raises $5.5bn to buy private equity assets July 19, 2012 Coller Capital has raised $5.5bn (£3.5bn) to buy private equity investments from banks and other investors, tapping into a growing niche that has seen some of the biggest pools of capital raised by buyout firms over the last year. As traditional private equity groups have found new capital hard to raise and deals tough to [...]
Many banks are at fault – but we still need a strong finance sector July 17, 2012 OPEN almost any paper and you will read at least one editorial or comment piece slamming the financial sector. Of course, the banking industry has given its critics plenty of ammunition: HSBC failed to stop the laundering of billions of dollars of Latin American drug money; JP Morgan’s mammoth losses; the Libor scandal; mis-selling payment [...]
The Libor scandal may destroy the preeminence of the City of London July 3, 2012 THE 2007-8 banking crisis was a disaster for London’s international position as a banking centre. But financial services is much more than just banking. It includes areas such as insurance (in which London’s position is strong internationally, though by no means dominant) and securities and broking – in which London had every prospect of remaining [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 3, 2012 The firing line There is no doubt that an inquiry is called for in the Libor manipulation saga, but the fines should be targeted at the dealers and the management, not the banks. Shareholders did not have a say in the internal dirty dealings, nor did they share much of the loot. Bonuses mostly went [...]
FTSE edges up as Barclays chief quits July 3, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up in early trading to continue two sessions of strong gains fuelled by hopes that the Eurozone could avert collapse. Significantly Barclays edged up slightly after chief executive Bob Diamond quit with immediate effect over the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Britain’s third-largest bank also accepted the resignation of chairman Marcus Agius on [...]
New Eurozone credit crunch as coming recession hits lending July 1, 2012 THE FAILURE of short-term quick fixes to rescue the Eurozone’s broken banks means lending levels will be slashed and balance sheets will shrink at a faster rate even than in the financial crisis, a report from Ernst and Young warns today. The looming recession means non-performing loans will mount to record highs in 2013, while [...]