Banking reform should rule out more bailouts December 21, 2011 THE rescue of Northern Rock, and the subsequent injections of taxpayers’ money into RBS and the forced merger of HBOS and Lloyds, stemmed from a clear failure of Ed Balls and Labour’s tripartite regulatory structure for financial services. And when a Liberal Democrat trade secretary and a Conservative chancellor came together to try to agree [...]
Banks fuel FTSE gains after Lloyds upgrade December 21, 2011 Banks led London’s blue chip index up in early trading – tracking gains in Wall Street and Asia. Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Lloyds to trigger a rise in the sector which has had a torrid year with the Eurozone debt crisis taking its toll. Lloyds was up 4.3 per cent as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded [...]
Troubled RBS loses Amlin brokership December 20, 2011 RBS HOARE Govett, the broking arm of RBS, shed another key client yesterday when insurer Amlin said it had switched advisers. Amlin, the biggest Lloyd’s of London insurer by market value, announced it had appointed Morgan Stanley and Numis Securities as its new joint brokers – replacing RBS Hoare Govett which had previously been its [...]
UBS activists stay until 2012 December 19, 2011 SWISS bank UBS came under further criticism from a senior judge yesterday as it lost the latest round of a lengthy battle to evict protesters who have taken over its disused City office. Lord Justice Lloyd said activists at the “Bank of Ideas” can remain in the block until January and gave them permission to [...]
Santa rally looks unlikely as FTSE loses ground on very light volumes December 19, 2011 BANKS dragged the FTSE 100 lower in extremely light trade yesterday after the British government estimated the cost to banks of reforming the UK banking system could be as much as £8bn. London’s blue chip index was down 22.35 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,364.99, with volumes at just 67 per cent of their [...]
Banks hit by Vickers as North Korean leader dies December 19, 2011 The FTSE 100 was solid this morning but the festering Eurozone crisis continued to sap confidence in riskier assets and banks were down as the government confirmed that they would be hit with the full impact of the Vickers Report. But the agenda was dominated by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, sparking [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains December 16, 2011 The FTSE 100 continued where it left off in the last session with a moderate rally fuelled by positive data from the US. US weekly jobless claims fell to a three-year low suggesting that its economic recovery was still on track. But markets still remain braced for credit rating downgrades for Eurozone countries as agencies [...]
London 2012 Image of the week December 15, 2011 On Tuesday, BT launched its torchbearer nomination process. BT is one of three presenting partners for the Paralympic torch relay – the others being Lloyds TSB and Sainsbury’s. On 28 and 29 August next year, 580 torchbearers will work in teams of five to carry the flame during an overnight relay from Stoke Mandeville to [...]
LLOYDS TRADER, A BORIS BIKE, AND THE APPEAL December 12, 2011 THERE seems to be no limit to the feats of endurance some City workers will perform for a good cause. For Opportunity International, the charity behind City A.M.’s Christmas appeal, one brave Lloyds Banking Group trader decided to tackle a 200-mile bike ride in less than 24 hours. What made the challenge particularly gruelling was [...]
First fall in the capital’s output since April ‘09 December 11, 2011 LONDON’S private sector output contracted last month, according to a business survey released this morning by Lloyds TSB. The worrying finding marked the first decline in the capital’s business activity for over two and a half years. The business activity index slipped to a reading of 49.3 in November, down from 50.4. Scores below 50 [...]