Omega joins the big boys on the main London Stock Exchange market space July 7, 2009 OMEGA Insurance, the Lloyd’s of London underwriter, has ascended to the main market of the London Stock Exchange, after it last week boosted its control of Lloyds’ successful Syndicate 958. The insurer yesterday left the smaller Aim space to join bigger rivals on the main market, and is now one of seven non-life insurers on [...]
StanChart plumps for John Peace July 2, 2009 EMERGING markets bank Standard Chartered, which has enjoyed healthy revenues and profits, confirmed yesterday it had appointed John Peace as the group’s new chairman with immediate effect. Peace, 60, is set to receive £650,000 a year and a further £500,000 in shares, which will vest over the next three years. He is also chairman of [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 30, 2009 TalkTalkThe broadband provider has appointed David Cooper as chief information officer. Cooper will be responsible for the firm’s IT systems and, in particular, will oversee the integration of those systems with Tiscali UK, which it acquired in May for £236m. He previously worked at BT during the 1980s and 1990s, and most recently spent seven [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 24, 2009 Close BrothersThe financial services group has appointed Sven Guckelberger as a managing director to its corporate finance advisory arm, Close Brothers Corporate Finance, which has recently been sold to Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe. Guckelberger will join the restructuring and debt advisory group. Fenchurch The investment banking boutique has hired Julian Avery as a senior adviser, [...]
Slaughters in fracas with Lib Dem peer June 24, 2009 LORD Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, has become embroiled in a row with “magic circle” legal firm Slaughter and May after he accused it of handing the government a “simply mind-blowing” £22m bill. The bill relates to “financial stability” work carried out for the Treasury in the the financial year 2008 to 2009. Slaughters [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 23, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent yesterday, falling just 4.03 points to 4,230.02 in a choppy session, with thin volumes exacerbating movements, after losing 2.6 per cent on Monday. The index has gained more than 22 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 4.6 per cent on [...]
Brit drops its Chaucer bid June 23, 2009 BRIT Insurance withdrew its bid for rival Lloyd’s of London insurer Chaucer Holdings yesterday, as private equity group Pamplona ramped up its assault on Chaucer by further boosting its stake. Brit said the board of Chaucer had decided not to recommend its £220m offer – worth almost a third less than for the group’s book [...]
How the Baker Street brigade are taking on the Big Four accountants June 22, 2009 YOU get the impression when you meet him that Simon Michaels, the managing partner of BDO Stoy Hayward, wants a lot of things – and one of the first is a larger slice of the UK accounting pie. Michaels, at 42 the youngest person to lead the UK’s sixth-largest professional services business, was elected to [...]
Brit launches bid for Chaucer June 22, 2009 LLOYD’S of London insurer Brit Insurance made a £226m all-share offer for smaller rival Chaucer yesterday, forcing private equity group Pamplona to reveal it has built a 7.34 per cent stake in the company. Brit is offering the Chaucer board 0.23 new Brit shares for every Chaucer share. This is a nil-premium offer, meaning it [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 22, 2009 THE FTSE 100 ended 2.6 per cent, or 111.88 points, lower at 4,234.05 yesterday as falling commodity prices pressured miners and oil majors. Bucking the trend, Anglo American was the biggest blue chip gainer, rising 4.6 per cent, after rival Xstrata said it wanted talks about a proposed merger of equals. Xstrata shed 6.7 per [...]