S&P’s US downgrade sparks stock sell-off April 18, 2011 Alarm over deteriorating public finances in the US, Greece and other peripheral eurozone nations hit markets today, pushing the FTSE down to its lowest close in four weeks. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the US’ rating outlook to negative, from stable, citing a lack of decisive action to rein in [...]
The man who’s locking horns with indecisive EU regulators April 17, 2011 MENTION Brussels to any senior London-based insurer and you will always get the same reaction: anger and exasperation. With just over 18 months to go before the introduction of Solvency II, the insurance industry’s equivalent of the new Basel III banking rules, European regulators have still not produced a framework that properly reflects the business [...]
Leicester Tigers consider IPO April 12, 2011 Leicester Tigers are plotting an initial public offering (IPO) to raise more than £4.4m to develop their stadium. Rugby league’s Aviva Premiership champions had planned an IPO two years ago, but are now reviving the plans to pay for work at their Welford Road ground. The fundraising would help to build a multi-storey car park [...]
Spotlight on famous five of the Commission April 10, 2011 The spotlight will today be on the “famous five” members of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) as it presents its 200-page interim report. Two of the commission’s five members come from a banking background, which banks might hope will make them sympathetic to the difficult of running a major lender in current regulatory conditions. [...]
Powell and Gay London bound March 31, 2011 ATHLETICS: Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and the world’s fastest man of 2010, Tyson Gay, will go head-to-head at the Aviva London Grand Prix on 5-6 August after they do battle at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix on 10 July. “I have only run in Birmingham once before, but if it is like [...]
Aviva puts RAC arm up for sale March 24, 2011 ROADSIDE rescue business RAC has been put up for sale by its insurance owner Aviva as it divests non-core parts of the company. The RAC’s value has been placed at about £600-700m, just over half the £1.1bn Aviva paid for it in 2005, after a series of sell-offs of its parts, including the BSM driving [...]
Daniels cut from Aviva list March 20, 2011 FORMER Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels has been dropped from the shortlist for insurance group Aviva’s chairmanship after an outcry from shareholders. Some of the company’s biggest investors complained after news last week that Daniels, who stepped down from Lloyds last month, could succeed Lord Sharman when he leaves in 2013. Daniels has been criticised [...]
Former Lloyds chief Eric Daniels tipped as next Aviva chairman March 17, 2011 ERIC Daniels, the former Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, is a candidate to become the next chairman at insurer Aviva, City A.M. learned yesterday. Daniels, who stepped down as Lloyds’ chief executive at the start of March, is one of about five candidates approached by Aviva about taking a non-executive board position. The new director [...]
Spirited England can secure a clean sweep with narrow win in Dublin March 17, 2011 IRELAND vs ENGLAND TOMORROW – 5.00PM BBC1 GRAND Slam, Grand Slam, Grand Slam. These words will be skipping through the minds of every England player before tomorrow’s clash gets underway at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Their last two performances against Scotland and France tempered a lot of the hyperbole about this England XV being a great [...]
Overseas is where the growth lies March 17, 2011 LEGAL & General’s 24 per cent dividend hike and £1bn in annual profits are a sign of just how far the insurer has come over the past two years. In early 2009, concerns over the insurer’s capital requirements caused shares to drop 30 per cent in a single day. The dividend was halved to bump [...]