Cable: Banks should be wary of handing out lavish bonuses October 25, 2010 BANKS should think twice before paying out lavish bonuses this year and must start to refocus on longer-term investment to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis, business secretary Vince Cable said yesterday. Chancellor George Osborne last week confirmed he would impose a tax on banks’ balance sheets as part of measures to insure the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 17, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph LORD LAWSON URGES OSBORNE CUTS Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former Chancellor and a man used as a sounding board by George Osborne, has urged his successor to “be bold” when making cuts to expenditure in this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Lord Lawson said that in spite of fears of [...]
Ex-MPC member Barker takes private equity role October 17, 2010 FORMER Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Kate Barker has snapped up her second high-profile corporate appointment in just a few weeks, having agreed to take up a role as a non-executive director on the board of Electra Private Equity. Electra, which has investments in household names such as insurer Esure and feminine hygiene [...]
DO-GOODING HEDGE FUND AUTHORS STRIP MEAT OFF MERVYN’S BONES October 14, 2010 FOLLOWING on from The Capitalist’s coverage of the launch of The Gathering Storm – a compilation of essays by hedgies, with all proceeds going to charities chosen by the writers – the book’s august authors gathered yesterday for cucumber sandwiches and wine at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. As the discussion galloped [...]
Curbs on loan insurance hit bank sector October 14, 2010 UK lenders are to be banned from selling customers payment protection insurance (PPI) alongside credit products such as personal loans. The Competition Commission yesterday confirmed it will introduce a point-of-sale PPI prohibition as part of a package of reforms designed to make the PPI market more competitive. The decision confirms a provisional ban issued by [...]
Wall Street dips on mortgage worries October 14, 2010 BANKS led US stocks lower yesterday as investors fretted a widening foreclosure crisis could undermine the market’s strength over the last five weeks. The S&P 500 has rallied 11.9 per cent since 1 September and volume has picked up from anaemic levels. But the rally could weaken as an index of bank stocks fell nearly [...]
Free banking will soon be a thing of the past October 7, 2010 IN AN environment of persistently low interest rates, it has become increasingly hard to find a free current account that pays any credit interest at all, according to personal finance information website Moneyfacts.co.uk. Its research, which was published earlier this week, showed that 55 per cent of current accounts on the market pay no credit [...]
Bank bonus pot drops to £7bn October 5, 2010 The City financial sector was expected to get £7bn for 2010, down four per cent from last year, the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) said. The CEBR consultancy said the drop reflected fewer people working in the City in the aftermath of the credit crisis. The new 50 per cent top rate of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2010 Tullett Prebon The inter-dealer broker has re-hired Tory MP Michael Fallon as a non-executive director, just a few months after he resigned to pursue an unsuccessful campaign for the Treasury Select Committee chairmanship. Fallon, who lost out to Andrew Tyrie, rejoins Tullett a week after he replaced Lord Ashcroft as deputy chair of the Conservative [...]
Anglo Irish fears escalate September 28, 2010 IRELAND’S borrowing costs hit a record high yesterday after two credit rating agencies warned its debt is at risk of further downgrades, compounding political jitters over a budget that could break a shaky government. The anxiety was sparked by warnings from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s that if government support for Anglo Irish Bank, set [...]