Leahy checks out of the top job at Tesco June 8, 2010 TESCO shocked the City yesterday by announcing that boss Sir Terry Leahy would retire in March. Sir Terry has led the chain for 14 years, overseeing its rise to become the UK’s leading supermarket group and will be replaced by international and IT director Philip Clarke. The chief executive, who will be 55 when he [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS June 3, 2010 NO OVERSEAS FX FEES WITH KALIXA Whether you are heading to South Africa for the World Cup or elsewhere this summer, you ought to be thinking about your currency arrangements as early as possible. Kalixa, the pre-paid Mastercard, has announced this week that it will be waiving its standard foreign exchange fee for all point-of-sale [...]
Pru told to list its Asian unit June 2, 2010 PRUDENTIAL is facing calls to realise the value of its Asian business through a stockmarket listing after its $35.5bn (£25bn) play for AIA lay in tatters yesterday. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam and chairman Harvey McGrath, who are fighting for their professional lives along with the rest of the board, will come under pressure to provide [...]
Fitch: Ratings risk posed by Solvency II June 2, 2010 EUROPEAN insurers may struggle to keep their credit ratings under stringent new capital requirements proposed by Brussels, assessment house Fitch warned yesterday. Insurance companies are expected to be ordered to increase the amount of capital they hold against their liabilities under Solvency II, the European Commission’s regulatory regime due to be introduced in 2012. In [...]
Banks drag FTSE down even lower June 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, led down by banks, but finished well off session lows on fresh hopes for economic recovery after strong US pending home sales data. The FTSE 100 closed 11.98 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 5,151.32, having dropped as low as 5,072.53. The index fell 0.5 per cent on [...]
UK bank stocks are attractive but precarious June 2, 2010 COMPARED to some of the financial institutions in continental Europe, Britain’s banks, even the part-nationalised ones, are managing to exude an air of respectability and even strength. While French and German financial institutions – banks and insurers – are estimated by Barclays Capital to hold just under €80bn of Greek debt, British banks have minimal [...]
Bankers miss Pru fees but eye AIA float June 1, 2010 LONDON bankers will miss the fees bonanza promised by Prudential’s swoop on AIA, but advisers in Asia are rubbing their hands at the prospect of a listing for AIG’s Far Eastern arm. Prudential was preparing to shower £850m on a raft of investment banks led by Credit Suisse, HSBC and JPMorgan, and lawyers led by [...]
PRUDENTIAL AND AIA EXPLAINED June 1, 2010 Q. WHY SHOULD PRUDENTIAL WITHDRAW NOW? A. Prudential – after suffering its first major setback with an unprecedented regulatory delay to the deal last month – was already facing growing shareholder discontent. A withdrawal today, after Prudential management meets top investors, would avoid taking the deal to a vote at a general meeting scheduled for [...]
Barnier ready to outline tough bank regulations June 1, 2010 THE European Commission is today expected to announce its intention to extend pay curbs in the financial sector and tighten control of credit rating agencies. Against a backdrop of growing frustration with sluggish progress in regulating a financial industry blamed for the crisis, the European Commission’s top officials will outline plans to reinvigorate momentum for [...]
Shopping around is the future of law June 1, 2010 COMMENTATORS talk excitedly about “Tesco Law” and the ongoing liberalisation of legal services as though it were a latter day gold rush led by big name supermarkets and banks. But what is it that consumers want? New research suggests that there is little enthusiasm on the part of the public to associate legal services with [...]