London must fight hard to keep headquarters April 13, 2011 HAVE you ever played Whac A Mole? A menacing, flinty eyed mole pops up out of his hole, and no sooner have you whacked him down than another menacing mole pops out of another hole. However hard you whack, that menace remains. It is the same for those who defend London as a global financial [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 13, 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers Amit Aggarwal has been appointed to lead the retail M&A team at PwC’s corporate finance business. Aggarwal brings more than 15 years’ experience in M&A and private equity to the role, having previously held senior positions at JP Morgan and Baugur. Aggarwal moves from the position of partner at Retail Partners, the retail-focused advisory [...]
Helicopter company is latest Russian to seek London float April 12, 2011 STATE controlled JSC Russian Helicopters yesterday confirmed its intention to raise $500m (£308m) in a joint flotation in London and Moscow. The offering is expected to consist of the sale of existing shares, primarily by the firm’s major shareholder Oboronprom, as well as up to $250m of primary shares in the form of Global Depository [...]
UK rate rise delay now expected by markets April 12, 2011 YESTERDAY’S drop in the consumer price index (CPI) inflation figure for March, from 4.4 to 4 per cent, surprised the markets. This sent sterling tumbling as expectations of a May rate rise evaporated. Weak retail figures compounded the gloomy outlook for the pound. Many traders seem to have been tipped off prior to the announcement, [...]
ITV CREWS CATCH BANKERS ON CAMERA FOR NEW LEGAL DRAMA April 11, 2011 LUNCHBREAKS for the employees of Bank of New York Mellon Asset Management will never be the same again, after ITV rolled into the firm’s neighbourhood last Thursday to film its new legal drama The Jury. The ITV camera crews have been filming on location just a stone’s throw from BNY Mellon’s Queen Victoria Street HQ [...]
Banks told to “ring fence” retail arms April 11, 2011 Top banks should shield their retail operations from riskier investment banking activities and hold more capital to protect taxpayers in the event of another financial crisis, a report said. Radical shake-up proposals outlined appear harshest for Lloyds Banking Group, which may be forced to sell hundreds more branches in addition to the 600 already on [...]
Boris favours ring-fencing of UK banks April 10, 2011 LONDON mayor Boris Johnson, a staunch defender of the City, has said that he supports a form of ring-fencing, or subsidiarisation, of banks’ activities to promote financial stability. The mayor was speaking a day before the publication of an interim report by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), which will release its initial findings this [...]
ICB has to strike a difficult balance April 10, 2011 With such a broad mandate to recommend how to promote greater financial stability and competition within UK banking, the Independent Commission on Banking has a wide range of options to choose from. And while the level of concern within UK-based banks is understandable, it is important to remember that the paper is merely an interim [...]
WHY BICK’S CHILEAN MINOR HAS X APPEAL April 10, 2011 CHARLIE Bick, the teenage son of Square1 Consulting’s chairman David Bick, looks set to follow in the footsteps of fellow Old Harrovian James Blunt, as his appearances on the Chilean X Factor are winning him an army of female fans. Charlie, 19, entered Chile’s first X Factor contest after his host family in Santiago – [...]
Glencore to trade in London from 24 May April 7, 2011 Shares of global commodities trader Glencore International are set to start trading in London on May 24 and in Hong Kong on May 25, the Ming Pao newspaper reported. Glencore was expected to kick off its initial public offering in Hong Kong on May 13, the newspaper reported, citing market sources. The global commodities trader [...]