NBNK confirms bid for Lloyds branches September 29, 2011 New British bank venture NBNK has submitted a second-round bid for some 630 Lloyds bank branches, NBNK confirmed which sources saying it could be worth £1.5bn. The auction — codenamed “Project Verde” — offers a chance to create Britain’s seventh-biggest bank in one fell swoop. The sale includes 4.6 percent of personal current accounts and [...]
PRINCESS LAUNCHES OUR APPEAL FOR AFRICA September 29, 2011 CITY LEADERS met royalty at The Savoy on Tuesday night, at a dinner to mark a new partnership between City A.M. and an African microfinance charity that aims to improve the lives of thousands. Guest of honour was HRH The Princess Royal, a patron of the Opportunity International (OI) charity, who told guests including Vallares [...]
Lloyds gets just one bid on branches September 28, 2011 LLOYDS has received just one formal bid on the 632 branches it is selling. NBNK Investments, the buy-out vehicle set up by Lord Levene, bid substantially below the £2bn that Lloyds is hoping to get. As part of the conditions of the bid, City A.M. understands that NBNK would agree to buy only a portion of [...]
PRINCESS LAUNCHES OUR APPEAL FOR AFRICA September 28, 2011 CITY LEADERS met royalty at The Savoy on Tuesday night, at a dinner to mark a new partnership between City A.M. and an African microfinance charity that aims to improve the lives of thousands. Guest of honour was HRH The Princess Royal, a patron of the Opportunity International (OI) charity, who told guests including Vallares [...]
UBS has little scope to outflank Joe Lewis September 26, 2011 THE spotlight, when it comes to UBS, is currently on where the investment bank goes from here, but elsewhere there are teams of bankers getting on with their day jobs. In London, Nick Reid and his team are trying to do the impossible; advise the pubs group Mitchells & Butler on how it might get [...]
Global markets dragged down by Eurozone crisis September 26, 2011 Gains by banks were outweighed by heavy losses among miners in early trading today as Eurozone bailout fears and bleak forecasts on world economic growth cast a shadow over markets. After last week’s rollercoaster ride, volatility looked set to continue as Eurozone leaders conceded that they would have to pump in trillions to have an [...]
City living: quit the commute September 22, 2011 BREAD Street, Poultry, Oat Lane – it doesn’t take a genius to guess that the City is about business. It’s certainly not the first place you imagine yourself living when you arrive in London. Indeed, the aldermen are trying to stop David Cameron’s attempts to turn it into a more residential area by relaxing planning [...]
Global markets hammered by US and China gloom September 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 plunged on opening today as a bleak view of the US economy from the Fed and fears over a slowdown in China – a key engine room in the global economy – took their toll. London tracked hefty falls on Wall Street and in Asia with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong [...]
Record claims plague Lloyd’s of London September 21, 2011 THE Lloyd’s of London group of insurers was hit by unprecedented losses in the first half of 2011, after a string of disasters meant customer claims were up by 24 per cent. Lloyd’s reported a pre-tax loss of £697m in the six months to June, compared to a profit of £628m in the same period [...]
FTSE commodities drop on fear over Fed announcement September 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares dropped back yesterday, led by weakness in commodity issues as investors nervously awaited the outcome of a US Federal Reserve meeting with expectations for further economic stimulus seen as already discounted. The FTSE 100 closed down 75.30 points, or 1.4 per cent at 5,288.41, retreating after a two per cent bounce on [...]