Fraud involving company heads on the increase June 19, 2011 COMPANY bosses, including those working at the highest level in chief executive or managing director’s offices, are increasingly committing more fraud, according to a report out today. The survey by accountants KPMG found that board members at divisional, subsidiary and corporate level across the world commit nearly one fifth of all fraud cases. The level [...]
Markets shun banks on fear of ringfence June 15, 2011 BRITAIN’S four biggest banks saw £3.5bn wiped off their value yesterday as investors fretted that chancellor George Osborne’s support for a ring-fence of their retail arms could push up costs and erode returns. Barclays and RBS were the biggest fallers, losing 2.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively due to their reliance on their investment [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 14, 2011 Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance has appointed Gary Lapthorn as marketing and external affairs director. In his new role, Lapthorn will lead the asset-based finance division’s marketing team to help businesses access appropriate finance. Lapthorn, who has been at Lloyds Banking Group for a number of years, joins from the bank’s commercial division, where [...]
Demand for e-books hits new heights June 12, 2011 THE booming demand for smartphones and tablets is fuelling an explosion in the consumption of paid-for online media. The biggest growth area is e-books, with the number of consumers doubling and the average monthly spend rising to almost the level of digital music, according to a new study by KPMG. Smartphone ownership has jumped by [...]
Cable vetoes a Southern Cross bailout June 9, 2011 STRUGGLING care home operator Southern Cross will not receive a government bailout, but the department for business is making sure its banks maintain its flow of credit properly, Vince Cable said yesterday. The news came as Southern Cross told its creditors that it plans to hand back 132 care homes to their landlords, which would [...]
Companies hit the brakes on recruitment in May June 7, 2011 PERMANENT employment in the UK grew for the 22nd month in a row in May, yet the rate of jobs growth slowed to its weakest level since October last year, a report revealed today. Temporary jobs continued to rise, yet at a remarkably sluggish rate. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 52.4 for temporary [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 7, 2011 KPMG David O’Hara has been appointed as a principal investment consultant to lead KPMG’s newly established Scottish advisory team. O’Hara, who will be based in Glasgow, joins from Hymans Robertson, where he provided investment advice to a range of private and public UK pension schemes. DOLPHIN CAPITAL INVESTORS The emerging markets resorts investor has appointed [...]
JP Morgan is City’s number one adviser May 30, 2011 JP MORGAN Cazenove has maintained its place at the top of the City’s broker advisory tables despite losing five clients since last quarter, according to the latest figures from financial data firm Hemscott. The company now has 239 clients – still a fair way off its peak of 251 in early 2010 but streets ahead [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 30, 2011 BDO The accounting and professional services firm has appointed Tom Taylor as a risk director. Before joining BDO, Taylor worked at Lloyds Banking Group for four years, where he worked as chief risk officer and operations director in the bank’s European insurance operation. Prior to that, Taylor spent seven years as a director at Ernst [...]
THE TALE OF PIPPA MIDDLETON, ALEX LOUDON AND THE BEERMAKER May 23, 2011 COULD Pippa Middleton be persuaded to relocate to leafy Woking? The Capitalist only asks because a finance professional with the same name as her boyfriend and rumoured fiancé, Alex Loudon, is currently employed by the Woking UK head office of brewing giant SABMiller. Recent press reports have described the younger Middleton sister’s love interest as [...]