CBRE acquires Franc Warwick September 9, 2012 CBRE, the commercial real estate services firm, confirmed yesterday it has acquired the niche property investment firm Franc Warwick in a move that further strengthens the global agent’s UK presence. Franc Warwick was co-founded by top industry dealmaker Franco Sidoli in 1988 and is regarded as one of the key players in the central London [...]
The City is poised to take advantage of Chinese currency liberalisation September 9, 2012 OFFSHORE renminbi (RMB) – or dim sum bonds, as they have affectionately come to be known in the West – have more in common with their culinary counterparts than meets the eye. Traditionally enjoyed at yum cha – the Chinese equivalent of afternoon tea – by farmers after a hard day’s work, dim sum have [...]
To nest or invest is the crucial decision buyers must make September 9, 2012 FOR most, buying a property is likely to be the most expensive purchase that they will ever make. As such, one of the key decisions that buyers face is where to buy their property. The average price of a London property currently stands at £302,000, according to Nationwide. But the performance of house prices have [...]
Direct Line’s Geddes needs to sell himself or face failure September 6, 2012 LONDON’S capital markets have been cheered a little by news that Alisher Usmanov, the Russian tycoon that owns a large shareholding in Arsenal football club, intends to raise $4bn (£2.5bn) for mobile phone operator Megafon in the next few weeks. There have been too few IPOs this year and so anything that livens up the [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 5, 2012 HSBC James Emmett has been appointed the bank’s head of global trade and receivables finance. He began his career at HSBC 17 years ago, and has held a variety of roles in trade finance, commercial banking, retail banking and strategy. Most recently, Emmett was head of strategy and planning for commercial banking. He replaces Rakesh [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 4, 2012 DAC Beachcroft Anthony Menzies has been appointed as a partner in the law firm’s London-based global insurance team. He joins from Taylor Wessing, where he was a partner in its insurance and reinsurance group. Menzies is a specialist in marine, energy and engineering law, and has also previously held roles at Clyde & Co and [...]
FTSE loses 1.5pc with investors not holding breath over ECB’s summit September 4, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday reflecting investor uncertainty over whether this week’s key European Central Bank (ECB) meeting will deliver the goods on a hoped for bond-buying scheme designed to ease the euro debt crisis. The FTSE 100 closed down 86.40 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,672.01, ending back below the 5,700 level [...]
Supermarkets enjoy a rare lift during summer September 3, 2012 THE RETURN of the warmer summer weather together with the Olympics and the use of vouchers helped grocers enjoy their best trading performance of the year last month, in a rare bright spot amid the gloom across the rest of the retail industry. According to the latest figures from Nielsen, grocery sales in the four [...]
UK focus on ECB meeting outcome September 2, 2012 THURSDAY will be the highlight of the week for economists, with all eyes on results of the European Central Bank policy meeting. While the market waits to hear the latest plans to fix the Eurozone’s debt problem, the Bank of England will also be announcing its latest interest rate decision and asset purchase plan. However, [...]
What the other papers say this morning August 30, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Downing Street could ease IPO rules Fast-growing technology companies would be allowed to float as little as 10 per cent of their business on the London Stock Exchange under proposals being weighed up by Downing Street. High quality global journalism requires investment. Senior figures in the government have given their backing to the [...]