Banks to lend more but output suffers October 1, 2009 UK LENDERS are to make mortgage loans more easily available, according to Bank of England research. The Bank’s Credit Conditions Survey said availability of mortgages had decreased in the third quarter due to a deterioration in wholesale funding markets. But it said lenders expect more home loans to be offered in the final quarter as [...]
Clever traders use call warrants to profit from those M&A rumours September 30, 2009 WITH the exception of shot gun weddings in the banking sector, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity practically died a death during the financial crisis. But recently there has been a slew of rumoured buyout offers such as Kraft’s bid for UK confectionary giant Cadbury. Indeed, Credit Suisse analyst Richard Kersley believes that the Kraft bid [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed marginally lower yesterday as buoyant financials struggled against disappointing US data, falls from miners and Vodafone. The index closed 5.98 points, or 0.1 per cent, lower at 5,159.72, after a choppy day of trading, having ended Monday’s session 1.6 per cent firmer. Miners were among the biggest laggards, with investors plagued [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2009 AvivaThe insurer has appointed Andrea Moneta, chief executive of its European business, to its PLC board with immediate effect. Moneta joined the firm in July 2008 to lead its European operations outside the UK. Prior to that, he was managing director of Dubai Financial Group and has also held senior executive positions with the European [...]
Barclays eyes Standard Life Bank division September 28, 2009 BARCLAYS is eyeing a bid for the banking operations of insurance titan Standard Life, sources close to the situation said yesterday. The insurer is understood to have put its Standard Life Bank unit up for sale at a price of between £200m and £300m and people familiar with Barclays’ plans said that the business would [...]
Swiss Re raises 38m from sale of run off unit, amid ongoing fight for capital September 28, 2009 SWISS REINSURANCE GROUP, the firm behind the construction of City skyscraper the Gherkin, has sold off its run-off management unit in a deal valued at up to £38m. The firm has sold its PRO unit to UK-based run-off firm consolidator Tawa, as it fights to offset losses made from investments turning sour in the credit [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 24, 2009 F&C Commercial Property TrustThe trust has appointed John Stephen, currently an independent non-executive director, as its new chairman, effective from 31 October. Stephen will replace Peter Niven, pictured, who steps down as chairman after four years and will remain on the board as a non-executive director. Niven is also a director of Resolution, which recently [...]
Sandler joins Pearl as chair September 24, 2009 PEARL, the insurer founded by pubs-to-pizza entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, has confirmed Northern Rock head Ron Sandler is joining as chairman. The group has taken on Sandler ahead of its planned secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter. Sandler was put in charge of failed mortgage lender Northern Rock after it became [...]
Wharf raises 1bn to save it from brink September 24, 2009 SONGBIRD Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, yesterday announced a £1.03bn rescue fundraising – the biggest ever in UK real estate history. The group will use the majority of the cash raised to pay down its £800m senior loan with Citi, which was due to expire next year. Without the fundraising, Songbird would have [...]
US regulators to plan how to rebuild FDIC September 23, 2009 USREGULATORS will meet next week to discuss how to rebuild the deposit insurance fund, which has been depleted by a sharp increase in bank failures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said yesterday. The FDIC’s board is expected to propose on 29 September and put out for public comment a number of options to replenish [...]