Odd couple? Axa and Alibaba team up to sell insurance online July 29, 2016 There are some things that are just meant to be together. Salt and pepper. Jelly and ice cream. French insurance giant Axa and Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba. The two companies announced today that they have plans to team up, alongside with Alibaba-affiliate Ant Financial Services, to distribute AXA's insurance products and services through Alibaba's global sales platforms. The new financial services [...]
City Moves for 29 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 29, 2016 Gumtree Gumtree, the UK’s largest classifieds website, has recruited Matt Button to the newly created role of head of customer relationship management. Matt will work with the Gumtree marketing team and its agencies to devise and deliver a CRM strategy that acquires and retains customers across all its categories. The strategy will be focused on engaging customers [...]
Yellen to unveil another hawkish hold in Fed’s first post-Brexit meeting July 24, 2016 The US Federal Reserve will stand firm this week when it gets the chance to make its first move on interest rates since the UK voted to leave the European Union. Markets and analysts say there is no chance the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is going to hike rates this Wednesday, but [...]
Enjoy it while it lasts: Bumper GDP figures to mask post-vote slowdown July 24, 2016 The UK economy grew handsomely in the second quarter of the year, official data out this week is expected to show, though analysts suspect it will be the last piece of good economic news for the foreseeable future. GDP growth is pitted to come in at around 0.5 per cent for the three months to [...]
City Moves for 21 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 21, 2016 Covington Elaine Whiteford is set to join Covington as a partner in the European dispute resolution practice in the firm’s London office. Elaine’s practice focuses on litigation, including contentious competition law matters and follow-on damages litigation, challenges to regulatory decisions, cartel and other regulatory investigations. Over the last decade, she has been involved in many of the most significant competition damages cases brought in [...]
City Moves for 13 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 13, 2016 Deloitte Deloitte has appointed Stephen Rees as a real estate senior advisor in its private client and family office group. Stephen will support family offices wishing to access UK commercial real estate, and provide a strategic and execution role as families continue to seek alternative investment opportunities in the UK. Stephen started his career at JLL, where [...]
Driverless car buyers may need new insurance covering cyber-attacks, and even ransom, a new report has warned July 10, 2016 Driverless car users may need to find cover against a raft of new dangers, including ransom payments demanded by hackers. A new paper from motor insurer Axa has warned that the rise of autonomous vehicles could lead to cars being hacked to conduct criminal activity, or even to be used a weapon. Alternatively, drivers could [...]
Axa says so long to Serbia with sale to Vienna Insurance Group July 7, 2016 Axa will be saying farewell to Serbia shortly, after the insurer announced today that it had agreed to sell its operations in the country. The Paris-headquartered company said in a statement that it had entered an agreement to sell both its life and savings and its property and casualty operations in Serbia to Vienna Insurance Group (VIG). The move [...]
City Moves for 5 July 2016 | Who’s switching jobs July 5, 2016 Bond Dickinson National law firm Bond Dickinson has appointed Charlie Reid as its new banking and finance partner in its London office. He joins the firm from Norton Rose Fulbright where he was a senior associate. Charlie gained experience in the London office of Morrison & Foerster developing its London banking practice for eight years. Prior to joining Morrison & [...]
Tobacco companies remain an addiction for stock market investors – and Brexit gave them a boost too June 29, 2016 Cigarette companies have been under the cosh for years as Western governments try to stamp out addiction to cancer sticks. But the anti-smoking lobby has failed on one count – to sufficiently dent the fortunes of tobacco companies on the stock market. Despite the battering the UK stock market has taken since Friday’s Brexit announcement, shares [...]