Trade insurers see 2009 claim numbers jump April 11, 2010 TRADE credit insurers dealt with record numbers of claims last year as the UK faced one of the worst recessions in recent history. The total amount of paid out claims jumped by 95 per cent in 2009 to £320m as compared to the previous year when companies paid out £164m in claims. Figures from the [...]
No bailout for Greek debt investors April 8, 2010 INVESTORS should have seen the sub-prime crisis coming. Yes, I know, it’s easy to say that with the benefit of hindsight, though a fair few economists and investors actually did get it right, not least the doctor turned hedge fund manager Michael Burry, who is brilliantly depicted in Michel Lewis’ new book, The Big Short. [...]
Take control of your pension plan and enjoy your old age April 8, 2010 IT IS estimated that only one in three adults under 30 are putting any money at all into a pension scheme. And little wonder when young people’s primary concerns are paying off debts accumulated in student years, saving up for those 40 per cent mortgage deposits and, truth be told, enjoying life. Retirement seems far [...]
Credit Suisse bolsters its investment banking line-up with new Nomura hire April 6, 2010 CREDIT Suisse, the bank that is advising the giant insurer Prudential on its £15bn rights issue, has hired Dominic Charnock from Nomura for its growing investment banking team. Charnock joins the investment banking team that includes Charles Donald, who left Nomura for Credit Suisse at the end of last year. Donald is widely credited as [...]
Tesco reveals banking target April 5, 2010 TESCO announced over the weekednd its ambitions to create a full service retail bank as part of plans to make up 10 per cent of the UK’s financial services market within the next ten years. The supermarket’s credit card and motor insurance businesses already makes up 10 and 4 per cent of their respective markets [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 30, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES M&A SURGE IN ASIA WHILE THE US AND EUROPE SUFFER Mergers and acquisitions boomed in Asia in the first quarter in sharp contrast to a slump in deal volume in Europea and the US, underlining a global shift in activity in the wake of the credit crisis. The value of global M&A overall [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 30, 2010 Clifford Chance The law firm has elected Michael Bates and Robert Lee as the new joint practice area leaders for its London finance practice, effective for a four-year period starting tomorrow. Bates, pictured, has been a partner since 2001 and specialises in acquisition and leveraged financings in the infrastructure sector. Lee, a partner since 1997, [...]
The Tipster March 30, 2010 AN UPWARD revision to the UK’s fourth quarter GDP figure helped to boost sterling yesterday. The upward revision was due to stronger output in the construction and manufacturing sectors. Sterling received another boost from credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s which maintained its triple ‘A’ rating on the UK, which bodes well for sterling in [...]
Europe and IMF seal Greek deal March 25, 2010 EUROZONE leaders last night finally clinched a deal to secure Greece’s financial future with the IMF drafted in alongside the EU to provide emergency funds if the debt-stricken country needs it. The bailout plan, agreed at yesterday’s EU summit in Brussels after weeks of wrangling, means eurozone members will provide two thirds of the estimated [...]
At a glance: All of Alistair Darling’s 2010 Budget tax and spend policies March 24, 2010 THE ECONOMY/ PUBLIC FINANCES l Confirmed pre-Budget report (PBR) 2010 growth forecast of 1-1.5 per cent. But the chancellor revised downwards the 2011 forecast to 3-3.5 per cent to bring forecasts in line with those of the Bank of England. Growth forecast of 3.5 per cent in 2012 maintained. l Inflation spike expected to be [...]