What the other papers say this morning – 09 October 2013 October 8, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Prosecutors give SAC ultimatum US prosecutors have given SAC Capital until November to resolve criminal charges against the hedge fund founded by Steven Cohen or risk paying more than the $1.8bn offer on the table, people familiar with the matter said. Lawyers for SAC Capital met representatives from the US attorney’s office in [...]
Goldman Sachs buys half of car insurer Hastings in £150m deal October 8, 2013 GOLDMAN Sachs’ merchant banking division yesterday bought half of British motor insurer Hastings in a deal that values the company at £700m. The Sussex-based insurer has previously made a point of handing shares to its staff, meaning thousands of employees are now set to enjoy a bumper payday. Goldman’s merchant banking arm will finance the [...]
Direct Line to sell closed life fund in £62m deal October 8, 2013 (Yahoo Finance) Britain's biggest car insurance company Direct Line has announced that it has agreed to sell the group's UK closed life insurance business, Direct Line Life Insurance (DLL), to Chesnara, an insurance-focused takeover specialist. (Release) Direct Line, whose brands include Churchill, Green Flag and Privilege, said today that total proceeds of the sale tally [...]
You can probably be replaced by a robot – and that’s really good news October 1, 2013 A new paper suggests that more jobs could eventually be done by robots that we previously thought. Not just simple tasks either. As many as 47 per cent of positions currently filled by humans could be done by a computerised workforce "over some unspecified number of years, perhaps a decade or two." Most likely to [...]
Time is running out to save capitalism from the capitalists September 26, 2013 CORPORATE Britain has a big problem. It has lost the PR wars. Even though firms create wealth and jobs and the tax revenues that pay for the public sector, as well as invent and produce products and medicines that improve our lives, they are, as a group, held in low regard. I write this with [...]
Hailstorms leave insurers with £1.7bn bill September 23, 2013 Freak hailstorms that hit Germany during July will leave the insurance industry with a bill of up to $2.7bn (£1.7bn), Swiss Re said yesterday. Massive hailstones smashed cars and broke through roofs.
Canada counts Alberta flood costs September 23, 2013 The massive floods that devastated swaths of southern Alberta in June are estimated to be the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, with the Insurance Bureau of Canada pegging the property damage at C$1.7bn (£1.03bn). The bureau, which represents Canadian home, cars and business insurers, said the preliminary estimate for the floods surpassed the C$1.57bn [...]
LV= profits halve due to tough price war in the UK car market September 9, 2013 INSURER LV= yesterday announced a hefty fall in its half-year operating profit, which it largely blamed on tough price competition in the UK motor insurance market. The mutual – which is Britain’s third biggest car insurer and covers more than 3m drivers – saw its operating profit fall to £31.3m from £60.1m for the first six [...]
FCA to study cash savings as part of programme on competition across financial services markets September 9, 2013 Regulators have today announced plans to carry out a market study to assess whether competition is in the interests of consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will focus on cash savings accounts, and how frequently the 80% of adults in the UK with such accounts switch between providers. The FCA comments: The cash savings study [...]
Admiral speeds ahead despite motor insurance price battle August 29, 2013 WELSH car insurance firm Admiral yesterday reported a healthy rise in profits – but admitted that fierce competition is affecting its British division. “We didn’t grow the UK insurance business, which was great news because of the competitive environment,” said chief executive Henry Engelhardt. “Any time you can increase profits by six per cent when competitors [...]