LEGAL FIRM BROADENS RECRUITING HORIZONS August 1, 2011 CITY INTERNSHIPS are notoriously hard to come by. But not for regular readers of The Capitalist such as Ratidzo Chinyuku, who wrote to Taylor Wessing partner Martin Winter asking for a work placement after reading about his charity work in her homeland of Zimbabwe in this column on 12 April. Following her successful appeal, the [...]
Hiscox backs Bermuda tax base as catastrophes push it to £86m loss August 1, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Hiscox said record levels of catastrophes over the past six months pushed it to an £85.6m pre-tax loss yesterday. Hiscox’s chief executive Bronek Masojada told City A.M. the period had been “very active” and 2011 would be “a record-breaking year” for disasters, but played down the impact on the insurer. “This is not [...]
FTSE has a rollercoaster day as US data undoes debt rally August 1, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index shed 0.7 per cent yesterday after a rollercoaster session, with early strong gains on relief over a debt deal in Washington wiped out later by weak ISM data which threw the spotlight back on a faltering US economy. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 40.76 points, or 0.7 [...]
FTSE buoyed by US debt deal August 1, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked global markets upwards as investors were buoyed by the breaking of the deadlock over US debt. As President Obama announced that the Democrats and Republicans had finally reached an agreement over raising the country’s debt ceiling Asian markets responded positively. Investors piled back into riskier stocks and abandoned gold as the [...]
Banking on surprising the markets July 31, 2011 THIS week sees the release of interim figures from a number of UK banks, and few are holding out hope for particularly strong results. A generally weak UK economy that grew an anaemic 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, coupled with concerns about the risk of UK bank exposure to possible European default, have [...]
JLT reaps emerging markets rewards July 29, 2011 Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thomson said its expansion into emerging markets had driven a 17 per cent increase in its retail business and ten per cent increase in its business to business broking lines. The group, which now operates in 130 countries, said its revenues and pre-tax profits each grew by a healthy nine per [...]
FTSE pegged back as US debt dominates July 28, 2011 The FTSE 100 started on the back foot in early trading as the saga surrounding the US debt crisis continued to pile pressure on world markets. A glut of major corporate results revealed mixed fortunes as giants like BT, Centrica and AstraZeneca reported. With US politicians still tussling over whether to raise the country’s debt [...]
LAGARDE’S ODD CHANGE OF HEART ON HER BUDGET July 27, 2011 A SWIFT turnaround for silver vixen Christine Lagarde, who ascended the abruptly vacant throne of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this month. Back in March, as French finance minister, Lagarde unveiled a “historical” budget to bring France’s finances back into line. “Reducing the deficit is an economic imperative and a commitment to Europe,” she [...]
How to pass the torch to your hero July 26, 2011 EVER since the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus (well, that’s what the legend says), a torch has been kept alight throughout the Olympics. And in the run up to the coming Olympics, beginning on 19 May 2012, it will be carried across the country in relay by those nominated as community heroes. The [...]
CITY GRANDEES DEBATE FUTURE OF UK BANKING July 25, 2011 MAGIC circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Fleet Street offices played host last night to a City crowd debating one of the most pertinent questions currently facing the UK’s politicians, regulators and bankers – whether the country’s biggest banks should be forcibly broken up, or whether other kinds of reforms are the best way forward. [...]