THE LONDON REPORT November 4, 2009 LONDON’S leading shares ended 1.4 per cent higher yesterday, boosted by a rebound from miners and banks, with retailers Next and Marks & Spencer also higher after posting forecast-beating figures. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 70.68 points at 5,107.89, recouping all of Tuesday’s losses when the index fell 1.3 per cent to [...]
UBS unveils another loss amid reshape November 3, 2009 SWISS bank UBS has reported a third quarter loss of SFr564.4m (£337m) after being hit by a hike in accounting charges. The result means the bank has now suffered four successive quarters of losses as it restructures in the face of the credit crunch. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, has been particularly badly hit by the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 3, 2009 Gleacher ShacklockThe corporate advisory firm has appointed Peter Alcaraz as a senior adviser, effective from next spring.Alcaraz, who will be tasked with helping to develop the firm’s franchise in the services sector, joins from Close Brothers Corporate Finance, where he was most recently a managing director and head of the services sector team. He has [...]
DO YOU WELCOME CONFIRMATION OF THE BREAK-UPS? November 3, 2009 PAUL MUMFORD CAVENDISH AM“The agreement to limit cash bonuses at both banks is evidently a political gesture rather than a move designed to tackle the structure of the financial system or remuneration itself.” JOHN CRIDLAND CBI“The priorities for the government must be financial stability and reduced risk for the taxpayer. It has done the right [...]
CITY’S BIG SPENDERS PROVE EASY TARGET FOR DEN OF DEBAUCHERY November 3, 2009 AFTER all the talk of City types shying away from blowing their cash in lap-dancing clubs in these bleak post-crisis days, it comes as a bit of a surprise to see that one such chain has opened up yet another den of debauchery on the fringe of the Square Mile. Yes, club operator Secrets, which [...]
Traders look to hedge fund guru for lead on Barclays November 2, 2009 AFTER eight months of holding onto his 1.5 per cent stake in Barclays, one of London’s top hedge fund managers announced last week that he has sold his stake in the high-street bank, which has risen in value by 550 per cent over the period. Crispin Odey, head of Odey Asset Management, cited uncertainty over [...]
Insight deal completed as staff go November 2, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group yesterday cut another 120 staff as part of the completion of the £235m sale of its Insight Investment Management business to Bank of New York Mellon. On another bleak day for banking jobs, Lloyds said 331 staff would move to BNY Mellon as part of the deal while 12 would be kept [...]
Turner warns break-ups to hit stability November 2, 2009 THE forced break up of the “too big to fail” banks into retail and casino institutions would actually increase instability in the financial sector and worsen the economic impact of future banking crises, the City watchdog warned yesterday. Lord Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said proposals to separate traditional banking operations [...]
Northern Rock break-up is good for competition November 1, 2009 Leaving the debate over who should be the first “President of the EU” aside, the EU Commission’s recent decision to allow the break-up of Northern Rock into separate “good” and “bad” banks was a major step forward to restoring healthy competition in the banking sector. Restructuring Northern Rock and selling off its viable parts will [...]
Santander able to bid for RBS assets November 1, 2009 Spanish bank Santander has been cleared to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s business-focused branches when the bank’s assets are divested under plans being drawn up. Competition rules agreed between London and Brussels will ensure that no purchase of the assets will push the buyer’s market share in the specific market past 15 per cent. [...]