Hong Kong’s top regulator comes home May 10, 2011 THE City might be in the doldrums about its declining global status, but there is at least one well-respected financial expert that London has tempted back from an Asian hot spot – he just happens to be a regulator. Martin Wheatley, current chief executive of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, will return in September [...]
Tesco to appeal to “aspirational” shoppers May 10, 2011 Tesco plans to create new brands to spruce up its product ranges and appeal to increasingly aspirational shoppers across the world, its new chief executive said. Phil Clarke, outlining his strategy for the supermarket group, also said Tesco would be online in all 15 of its markets this decade and, while it would continue to [...]
Hiscox poised for rate rises after Japan May 9, 2011 CATASTROPHE losses in the first three months of 2011 have “changed the market” for insurance firms and pushed up rates, Lloyd’s insurer Hiscox said yesterday. Bermuda-based Hiscox wrote eight per cent less business in the first-quarter compared with the same period in 2010 as it pulled back from insuring risk at unprofitably low rates. But [...]
NEWS FROM THE BOUTIQUES May 5, 2011 ROLEX COMES TO ONE HYDE PARK It’s got a slew of the most expensive properties ever sold in world, and now One Hyde Park, the Candy & Candy development in Knightsbridge where one flat is said to have gone for £136m, has also recently the home of Rolex’s biggest London showroom. Owned and managed by [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BREWER’S FINANCE CHIEF TO RETIRE SABMiller is ushering in a new era after Malcolm Wyman, who has served as chief financial officer for the past decade, announced plans to retire at the annual meeting in July. My Wyman, 64, will be replaced by James Wilson, finance director for European operations. Mr Wilson, 51, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 3, 2011 Ashcourt Rowan Ashcourt Rowan, the wealth management division of Syndicate Asset Management, has appointed Paul Miles as director of intermediary services. Miles joins Ashcourt Rowan from discretionary fund management platform Parmenion, where he was sales director for the last three years. Miles will report to Christopher Jeffreys, Syndicate’s director of asset management, who has been [...]
QUEEN’S FORMER SPINNER TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT ROYAL WEDDING April 27, 2011 TONY Blair and Gordon Brown have been snubbed from the Royal Wedding – as has Brown’s former spin doctor Simon Lewis, despite his previous incarnation as the first head of communications for the Queen between 1998 and 2000. Lewis, who is now the chief executive of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, will still [...]
FTSE flat as investors await news of Fed’s monetary policy April 27, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index ended flat yesterday ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s news conference which could provide clues on the Fed’s future plans for its monetary policy. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 1.2 points or 0.02 per cent at 6,068.16, having hit a 9-week closing high on Tuesday. Volume was only 87.6 [...]
Troubled JJB to de-list from LSE April 26, 2011 JJB, the high street sportswear retailer, is to de-list from the London Stock Exchange’s main market and re-list on the smaller, cheaper AIM market. The struggling firm will issue 160m new shares to raise £65m, breaking listing rules relating to how much of the company is freely floated.
Russian heli firm’s London IPO takes off April 26, 2011 KREMLIN-backed firm Russian Helicopters has set the price range for its $500m (£304m) joint Moscow and London share offering. The helicopter manufacturer, dominant amongst Russian counterparts, priced its shares and global depository receipts (GDRs) at between $19 and $25 per unit. The deal values the company at between $1.8bn and $2.4bn. Russian Helicopters will sell [...]