CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 3, 2012 Post Office Virginia Holmes is joining the board of the Post Office as a non-executive director. Holmes has previously served as chief executive of AXA Investment Managers UK, and spent more than a decade with the Barclays Group, where she was ultimately managing director of Barclays Bank Trust Company. She currently sits on the board [...]
Resolution falls as breakup plan splits investors March 27, 2012 INVESTORS reacted badly to news that insurance firm Resolution plans to split itself in two, pushing shares in the FTSE 100 firm down by over five per cent. Resolution also shelved a promised £250m handout to shareholders because falling bond and stock prices had dented its finances. The developments signal a change in focus for the [...]
Resolution profit rises as it prepares split March 27, 2012 Insurer Resolution reported better-than-expected 2011 profit, helped by a one-off boost from outsourcing, and said it was working on a plan to split itself into two to make itself more attractive to investors. Resolution, created in 2008 to buy underperforming life insurers and merge them into a more profitable whole, made an operating profit of [...]
HSBC mulls a new asset sale to lift returns March 26, 2012 HSBC has begun talks about offloading its Mauritius retail banking and wealth management division as it continues to target better investor returns. The bank is believed to have received three approaches for the arm, the origins of which go back to the middle of the nineteenth century. Yesterday HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, confirmed it was [...]
Direct Line Group set to name Biggs as chairman March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered the role of chairman at Direct Line Group, its insurance unit, to Mike Biggs, a former finance director at Aviva. It is understood that Biggs has not yet formally accepted the job but he will be tempted by the chance to lead a firm that is set to [...]
Smarter choices on tax should be agreed on by all March 14, 2012 THE debate between the Occupy movement and its City neighbours was never clarified, but essentially was about bigger or smaller government. Not surprisingly those receiving benefits but not paying tax want more of both, while those paying the bills want less. Close proximity sadly did little to diminish the caricatures of greedy banker and welfare [...]
HSBC sells non-core insurance units to AXA for over $900m March 7, 2012 HSBC has agreed to sell its general insurance businesses to French insurer AXA Group and Australia’s QBE Insurance Group for $914m (£580m) in cash, as Europe’s biggest bank moves ahead with its plan to divest non-core assets. HSBC’s decision to exit the business could be a precursor to similar deals as lenders globally consider selling [...]
FTSE resilient despite Greek deal fears March 7, 2012 The FTSE 100 proved resilient this morning as strong corporate results shored up the index despite falls on other markets across the globe. European shares overall steadied after two straight days of losses as investors braced for news on whether Greece would succeed in restructuring its huge debt pile. The Greek bond swap deal must [...]
HSBC sells insurance business for £518m March 7, 2012 HSBC has agreed to sell its general insurance businesses to French insurer AXA Group and Australia’s QBE Insurance Group for £581m in cash, as Europe’s biggest bank moves ahead with its plan to divest non-core assets. The deal, the latest in a series of cost cutting initiatives under new HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver, includes 10-year [...]
HSBC near sale of its insurance arm to rivals for £1bn February 29, 2012 HSBC is about to complete a £1bn deal to sell its general insurance arm to rivals AXA and QBE, according to reports. Under the deal French insurance giant AXA would take over HSBC’s business in Mexico and Asia, excluding Hong Kong. Australian firm QBE would then take over the Hang Seng operation in Hong Kong [...]