Lloyds reports £3.8bn loss November 8, 2011 Lloyds Banking Group , the part-nationalised lender which has been hit by its chief executive’s temporary absence due to health issues, reported a nine-month loss and said it may have to put back some financial targets due to the economic turmoil. Lloyds, which is 41 per cent owned by the government after being bailed out [...]
David Cameron is to call for moral capitalism: He needs to tackle moral hazard first November 7, 2011 IT IS widely expected that the Prime Minister is going to start calling for a more moral form of capitalism. I have a simple test of whether a politician is trying to debate, or avoid, tough policy questions – I ask myself whether anybody would disagree with the opposite of what the politician is calling [...]
FTSE ends the day higher on EU hope November 3, 2011 INVESTORS shrugged off chaos in the Eurozone as Britain’s top share index climbed higher yesterday, with leaders of the most powerful nations meeting in France in an effort to solve Europe’s crippling debt crisis. London’s blue chip index rose 61.54 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 5,545.64, as the index continued to recoup the sharp [...]
To secure credit in the future we need clear rules November 2, 2011 THE latest uncertainty over a Greek referendum to agree debt writedowns demonstrates, now more than ever, that reliance needs to shift from banks to the securities market for the risk capital needed to fund future economic growth. The G20, which meets today, therefore needs to take steps to revive risk capital markets to support growth, [...]
If the City didn’t exist, we’d need to invent it November 2, 2011 WHAT have financial services ever done for me? It is a question that the Occupy the London Stock Exchange protesters could well ask themselves, as they bring the church (rather than capitalism) to its knees. The public debate about financial services has focused on bonuses and risks, but there has been virtually no discussion of [...]
Shock of Greek referendum sends financial stocks down November 1, 2011 FINANCIAL stocks led Britain’s FTSE 100 sharply lower yesterday, after the Greek Prime Minister’s call for a referendum on the bailout package agreed last week sent shockwaves through markets and heightened tensions over debt contagion. London’s blue chips fell 122.65 points or 2.2 per cent to 5,421.57, echoing similar falls across the globe as investors [...]
RBC Capital Markets and City’s shifting sands October 31, 2011 OCCASIONALLY the move of a key employee from one investment house to another inadvertently sums up the varying fortunes of the two groups involved in the transfer. And so it is with James Eves, who has quit UBS after 11 years to join RBC Capital Markets in its pan-European financials team. Eves leaves UBS shortly [...]
CBI: slash national insurance for companies hiring young jobless October 30, 2011 CUTTING national insurance contributions for companies employing young workers and strengthening links between schools and businesses will cut youth unemployment, the Confederation of British industry (CBI) claimed today. Giving companies a “young Britain credit” worth £1500 to take on unemployed staff aged between 16 and 24 will cover the first year of national insurance for [...]
Why the euphoria was not justified October 27, 2011 MARKETS are hugely preferable to central planning – but sometimes capitalism’s finest get it spectacularly wrong. Yesterday’s deluded jump in stock prices – the FTSE is now back up to 5,713.82 – was a gross over-reaction to the Eurozone’s deal. A sigh of relief that the outcome wasn’t worse would have been understandable; but there [...]
These vague plans won’t save Europe October 26, 2011 FORGET about all the nonsense, the acronyms, the double-speak and the details of last night’s communiqués from Europe’s leaders. The reality is this. A country that has too much debt and cannot repay it by raising taxes or selling assets faces three choices: it can default; try and inflate or depreciate the debt away by [...]