Lord Levene’s bank eyes up online assets July 11, 2010 LORD Levene and Sir David Walker’s new high street bank plans to scour the market for potential online banking acquisitions after initially launching a bid for a retail branch network. NewBank, which does not yet have an official name, is currently eyeing up state-owned assets put on the block by Lloyds Banking Group and Northern [...]
Battle of the banks July 8, 2010 SOME OF the City’s most powerful names are gearing up for an almighty bidding battle over state-controlled banking assets including Northern Rock and parts of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene and City grandee Sir David Walker will take on Richard Branson’s Virgin money in a fight to create a new nationwide [...]
Bidding war for state’s banking assets boosts FTSE 100 as financials rally July 8, 2010 BANKS lifted Britain’s top shares yesterday, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group top performers on reports that a new bid vehicle will seek to buy British banking assets. The FTSE 100 index was up 90.63 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 5,105.45, rising for a third consecutive day. It closed up 49.82 [...]
Safeguard your possessions July 8, 2010 FROM “an Englishman’s home is his castle” to “keeping up with the Joneses”, there are plenty of old adages evoking Britons’ love for their houses and their possessions. Combine this with our customary practice of preparing for the worst and you might think that we would be rather conscientious about insuring our homes and their [...]
City heavyweights poised to swoop for government assets July 8, 2010 A PAIR of prominent City figures are drawing up secret plans to launch a bid for one of the banks owned by British taxpayers, according to Sky News. It has been reported that Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s of London, and Sir David Walker are backing a new acquisition vehicle that will list on the [...]
Brit Insurance rejects improved Apollo bid July 2, 2010 LLOYDS of London insurer Brit Insurance has rejected an improved takeover proposal from US buyout firm Apollo Management. However, it indicated that it was open to further offers. A possible revised offer of £10.50 per share, up from an original bid of £10 “undervalues the company,” and is not an acceptable basis for takeover talks, [...]
Q&A: EUROPEAN BANK STRESS TESTS July 1, 2010 Q.How will Europe stress test its banks? A.Originally, EU regulators planned to test just 25 large, cross-border banks, including Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, France’s BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, and Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds. Now they’re expected to cover banks holding about half the banking assets in each country. [...]
How to learn from Capello’s mistakes June 30, 2010 POOR defending, non-existent marking, a lack of passion – there are numerous reasons for England’s horrible World Cup performance. Interestingly, though, many have argued that all the problems on the field were symptoms of troubles off it. The team, it appears, didn’t get on with the manager. Capello’s boot-camp culture clashed with the laid-back attitude [...]
Catlin poised to set up Swiss reinsurer June 29, 2010 London-listed property and casualty insurer Catlin yesterday said it planned to set up a new venture in Switzerland to boost its presence in the European reinsurance market. Bermuda-based Catlin will provide the new operation, Catlin Re Switzerland, with capital reserves of at least $1bn (£662m). Catlin said the new venture would allow it to benefit [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL ENGLAND’S FOOTBALL FAILURE AFFECT THE ECONOMY? June 28, 2010 BEN WISE LLOYD’S REGISTER “I would have thought that it will affect the economy positively, as fewer people will be taking the day off work to watch the matches. Beer sales will be down, and retailers with special offers might lose a bit, but the impact won’t be great – we would have only played [...]