Lean premiums ebb earnings at Lloyd’s of London March 26, 2015 Lloyd’s of London profits dipped slightly last year after gross premiums written at the iconic institution fell. Pre-tax profits fell by £44m to £3.2bn for the year ending 2014, after premiums fell to £25.3bn from £25.6bn in the previous year. Overall profitability measures at the group also weakened, rising to a combined ratio of 88.1 [...]
City Moves for 27 March 2015 | Who’s switching jobs March 26, 2015 Northern Trust David Burnett has been appointed head of hedge fund services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at the financial services firm. He joined Northern Trust in 2011 as head of relationship management, EMEA. Burnett has also held positions at Omnium and Citadel Investment Group. Salamanca Group The merchant banking and operational [...]
Confidence knock? How the election is hitting businesses March 25, 2015 HOW CONFIDENT do high-growth companies feel about the coming year? For The Leap 100, the future looks bright. A whopping 98 per cent were either optimistic or very optimistic about their business’s prospects over the next 12 months, and 83 per cent expect the state of the economy to improve or greatly improve. Significantly, however, [...]
RBS cuts stake in US with $3bn Citizens sale March 23, 2015 RBS WILL cut its stake in US bank Citizens to below half this week, as it yesterday announced plans to sell off more shares in the lender. The bailed-out British bank is cutting down its overseas presence to focus on the UK market. It floated Citizens on the New York Stock Exchange six months ago, [...]
Budget 2015: A quick guide to all the key measures March 18, 2015 Chancellor delivers good news for savers and first-time buyers as he turns up heat on banks in play for votes ahead of election. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. However, the economy grew by just 0.5 per cent in the final three months of 2014, [...]
Budget 2015: Here are George Osborne’s best quotes plus his Budget speech in full March 18, 2015 George Osborne's final Budget during this parliament had few surprises but plenty of great quips, including – to the dismay of bookies everywhere – a quip about Ed Miliband's now-infamous second kitchen. Here's a selection of our favourites from today's big speech. (Source: Getty/City A.M.) (Source: Getty/City A.M) (Source: Getty/City A.M.) [...]
Banks’ London office footprint shrinks after heavy job losses March 17, 2015 Banks’ share of office space in London has shrunk by 13 per cent over the past decade as the industry struggles with heavy job losses in the wake of the financial crisis. A study by accountants Deloitte shows that the financial sector remains the biggest occupier in central London despite upheaval in the industry since [...]
Top Rabobank trader banned for rate rigging March 17, 2015 A FORMER senior trader at Rabobank was yesterday banned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over Libor rate-rigging. Paul Robson is the first trader to be banned by the City regulator for attempted Libor manipulation. The FCA action follows a US criminal conviction for Robson over interest rate-rigging. He was the second person at the [...]
Lloyds to bank £1.5bn if TSB sale to Banco Sabadell goes ahead March 12, 2015 Lloyds is set to receive a final total of £1.5bn for TSB if the Banco Sabadell sale goes ahead – twice the £750m for which it had previously agreed to sell the lender to the Co-op Bank. The giant bank was forced to sell off TSB under the terms of its 2008 bailout. The [...]
Aerial London: Seven amazing photographs of the City March 11, 2015 Have you ever wondered what the City looks like if you're hanging out of a helicopter, and about 1,000ft high? Jason Hawkes, who is one of the world's top aerial photographers, has carved a career out of doing just that. His portfolio features aerial shots of some of the city's most famous skyscrapers like the Gherkin [...]