Eurozone geared up for lending recovery as Draghi weighs up further stimulus October 19, 2015 Financial conditions in the Eurozone are in line for a buoyant 2016 with economists at a major consultancy forecasting a long-awaited revival in credit growth. Meanwhile, the currency-bloc’s policy makers could be tempted into expanding their €1.1 trillion (£810bn) money-printing programme as early as this Thursday after dropping numerous hints over recent weeks. Private sector borrowing [...]
PwC to be investigated over audit of collapsed company Connaught October 12, 2015 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has decided to act on complaints against accountancy giant PwC and its senior statutory auditor Stephen Harrison over the auditing of social housing maintenance firm Connaught. Connaught went into administration in September 2010. The FRC's report accuses the company and the account's lead audit partner Stephen Harrison, who retired in summer 2010, of "fail[ing] to [...]
PwC to be investigated over audit of collapsed company Connaught October 12, 2015 * caption could read: Connaught's property management arm, which maintained social housing, went into administration The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has decided to act on complaints against PwC and its senior statutory auditor Stephen Harrison over Connaught's auditing. Connaught is the social housing maintenance firm that went into administration in September 2010 and it is “alleged that [...]
UK housing crisis: Surveyors say older households key to tackling homes shortage September 23, 2015 Incentivising older homeowners to move into smaller properties or retirement homes could help free up almost three million family homes, a report today claimed. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has published a policy review today setting out a number of recommendations on how the government could do more to tackle the UK’s housing crisis. [...]
City Moves for 21 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 20, 2015 LEGAL & GENERAL PROPERTY Stephen Murden has been appointed residential development manager in Legal & General Investment Management’s real assets division. He joins from CBRE, where he was director of development and project management. Murden has 15 years’ experience in the sector. ICBC STANDARD BANK Raj Kumar has been appointed head of precious metals business [...]
Fossil Fuel divestment: The feel-good climate change policy that would undermine public pension funds September 2, 2015 Most would agree that climate change could pose a threat to the economy. However, measures to combat it will ultimately prove counter-productive if they conflict with the interests of the taxpayer. Forcing government to pursue losses from taxpayer-funded investments in the name of environmentalism, for example, would be an obvious misuse of public [...]
London City Airport expansion plans stay grounded following Mayor Boris Johnson’s U-turn August 20, 2015 The battle for London City Airport is heating up. Less than a month has passed since its owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Oaktree Capital put the site to the east of the capital up for sale with a price tag of around £2bn. But already two heavyweight bidders have emerged, including one of the [...]
Quindell names new boss to unravel mess August 17, 2015 EMBATTLED insurance outsourcer Quindell yesterday appointed tech development guru Indro Mukerjee as its new chief executive, two months after the departure of Robert Fielding. The appointment was made public amid investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Conduct Authority into previous business and accounting practices. The announcement ends 80 days of uncertainty for Quindell [...]
Bond buying, risks to growth and Grexit threat: Seven key takes from the European Central Bank’s July minutes August 13, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) has released the minutes from the meeting of its governing council which took place on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Here are seven key extracts: Read more: ECB "on track" to complete €1 trillion QE programme 1. Bond buying is becoming more difficult Portfolio managers had reported that purchases of eligible [...]
Quindell share price plummets by a third on its first day of trading since June August 6, 2015 The share price of troubled insurance claims processor Quindell fell almost 40 per cent to 79p this morning as trading in the company's shares resumed for the first time since it suspended them in June. The news came the day after the the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation into the company, following a [...]