City Moves for 7 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs February 6, 2013 Quilter Cheviot The asset management firm has appointed Jane Seymour as group marketing director. She joins from Rathbone Brothers, where she held a similar position. Seymour has over 20 years’ experience working in the financial services sector, and will report to chief executive Martin Baines. Catalyst Corporate Finance The advisory business has appointed two new [...]
The Debate: Does the £15bn bid for Virgin Media mark the return of major deal-making to the UK? February 6, 2013 YES Andy Cox While the deal market has been slow over the past few years, a recent wave of high-profile activity at “big ticket” prices, like Liberty Group’s £15bn bid for Virgin Media, suggests companies and investors are regaining a taste for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Our research suggests that there is the capacity and [...]
Retail enjoys January rebound with best growth in 13 months February 4, 2013 LIKE-FOR-LIKE sales grew at their fastest annual pace for 13-months in January, delivering a much-needed rebound to the embattled retail sector. January’s sales were 1.9 per cent higher than during the same month last year, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG revealed this morning. Total spend grew an even healthier three per [...]
Big four tax bosses defend their firms during grilling from MPs January 31, 2013 TAX heads at the big four accountancy firms clashed with MPs yesterday over their role in helping large companies to reduce their tax bills. Margaret Hodge, who chairs the public accounts committee, called for PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young to be banned from doing work for the government in light of the loopholes [...]
Investec trumps rand weakness to increase its income for 2012 January 31, 2013 INVESTEC, the South African money manager, yesterday said it overcame a weaker rand to increase annual operating income by one per cent in the nine months ending December 2012. The dual listed company, which trades in London and Johannesburg, posted the increase, net of depreciation on operating leased assets, despite a 13 per cent slide [...]
Watchdog says boards should look for risks on the horizon January 29, 2013 COMPANY boards and auditors need to be more vigilant about long-term risks to financial health, according to tighter rules from the Financial Reporting Council written in the wake of the credit crisis. The FRC said today it wants directors to consider threats to their business models and capital levels at least a year into the [...]
City Moves for 30 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 29, 2013 Pinsent Masons Michael Isaacs has been appointed partner in the law firm’s financial sector disputes practice. He is a banking litigation specialist, and joins from Addleshaw Goddard. Issacs has over 20 years’ experience in the sector. Mizuho International The London-based securities and investment banking arm of Mizuho Financial Group has appointed Antony Slotboom as head [...]
City’s brightest named in legal hot 100 line-up January 28, 2013 SOME of the City’s top lawyers have been named on the industry’s annual Hot 100 list, including the silk helping Guardian Care Homes pursue Barclays for Libor-related mis-selling and the partner leading Co-op through its bid for Lloyds bank branches. The Lawyer magazine’s 2013 list, released yesterday, singles out 100 legal names to watch this [...]
City Moves for 24 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 23, 2013 Lloyds Commercial Banking Anthony Williams has been appointed head of consumer services and entrepreneurs at Lloyds. He joins from Westhouse Securities, the advisory firm. Williams has over 25 years’ experience in banking, and has also held roles at ABN Amro/RBS, most recently as head of consumer sector advisory. Altius Associates Joachim Suter has been appointed [...]
Hilco snaps up HMV debt pile to take control January 22, 2013 HMV was given a potential lifeline yesterday after restructuring firm Hilco bought the crisis-hit music retailer’s debt for about £40m, effectively giving it control of the group. Hilco – which already owns HMV Canada – confirmed yesterday it had acquired HMV’s debt from the group’s consortium of lenders led by the Royal Bank of Scotland [...]