Why is Citi backing our appeal? November 21, 2012 THE CAPITALIST asks Bob Annibale, Citi’s global director of microfinance, why the bank is supporting the City A.M. Christmas Appeal this year. Citi has been supporting Opportunity International since 1994. The Citi Foundation and Opportunity’s missions were then, and continue to be, well aligned, with both organisations supporting the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of [...]
HP’s staggering accusations drag in City’s largest firms November 20, 2012 THIS paper does its best to avoid editorial hyperbole, but when a firm takes an $8.8bn writedown on an $11bn acquisition barely 12 months after the deal I might just make an exception. It’s completely flabbergasting. Analysts and shareholders alike may have baulked at the steep price that Hewlett-Packard shelled out for UK tech darling [...]
Plans to restore audit reputation November 20, 2012 THE FINANCIAL reporting watchdog has kicked off a project to try and help auditors to rebuild trust in their profession. On the same day that auditors for Autonomy came under scrutiny following Hewlett-Packard’s $8.8bn (£5.5bn) post-acquisition writedown, the Financial Reporting Council said it wants to examine the skills and responsibilities needed to publish useful audits. [...]
E&Y gets Farepak audit complaint November 15, 2012 Ernst & Young (E&Y) faces disciplinary action over its audit of the parent company of Farepak, the savings firm that collapsed shortly before Christmas 2006. The Financial Reporting Council said it has filed a disciplinary formal complaint against the big four auditor and one of its former staff for signing off Farepak’s 2005 accounts and [...]
Top City figures are dropped as Cameron’s trade ambassadors November 13, 2012 DAVID Cameron has decided to drop several leading City figures from the list of UK business ambassadors, it was revealed yesterday. Those told their services will no longer be required include Sir Victor Blank, the former Lloyd’s chairman who oversaw the bank’s disastrous merger with HBOS. Ex-Merrill Lynch banker Bob Wigley and Baroness Hogg, chairman [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES KKR launches funds for individuals KKR – the private equity group immortalised as the Barbarian at the Gate – is launching two investment funds to be distributed to individuals by Charles Schwab, the US brokerage. It is the latest sign of the pressure on private equity firms to become more like traditional asset [...]
Meet our panel of City judges October 17, 2012 Allister Heath, City A.M. Allister joined City A.M. as editor in 2008. He oversees all of the content in the newspaper and also writes a daily Editor’s Letter. He is also a frequent contributor to other print and broadcast media, and is a regular guest on TV news. David Hellier, City A.M. David has been [...]
Wheatley’s new City watchdog shows its teeth October 16, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Conduct Authority (FCA) yesterday unveiled its plan to regulate behaviour in the City, pledging to force companies to “put consumers at the heart of their business”. Martin Wheatley, who will be chief executive of the FCA when it is spawned from the disbanding Financial Services Authority (FSA) next year, outlined its approach. New [...]
Central London Grand Prix off, says Ecclestone October 15, 2012 FORMULA ONE boss Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that his plan to hold a Grand Prix on the streets of London is unlikely to get off the grid because the government will not provide the multi-million pound support required. Ecclestone unveiled lavish plans for a race route snaking past some of the capital’s most famous landmarks, [...]
Euro-Dollar drama may continue into next year October 1, 2012 FX360 THE final quarter of 2012 is now well underway and, by all accounts, the single currency has been given something of a lift. What is more, this positivity has arrived against the backdrop of mounting belief that a Spanish bailout is now nothing more than a formality. It could be initiated as soon as [...]