Don’t let corporate governance turn into a box-ticking exercise January 16, 2020 Last week, some of the UK’s biggest businesses received a rap on the knuckles, as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) published its annual review of how well companies lived up to the Corporate Governance Code. Some FTSE firms, the accounting and governance regulator argued, were simply “paying lip service to the spirit of the Code”, [...]
55-year-old ex-Citigroup banker who was called ‘old’ by his boss wins age case January 15, 2020 A former Citigroup investment banker has won an age discrimination case after his boss said “you are old and set in your ways”. The Employment Tribunal Court found that Niels Kirk, a managing director of energy banking, had been unfairly dismissed following the comments by his boss, Manolo Falco. The tribunal concluded that Kirk, who [...]
Stay on top of your game with the best health and fitness gadgets of 2020 January 15, 2020 It’s January – misery month – a yawning chasm between paydays offering naught but the freezing grey expanse of winter to look forward to. So you know what that means: it’s time to step into last year’s battered trainers, load up a podcast and get running again. To help keep you motivated, here’s our pick [...]
BBC unveils plan to double global audience to 1bn by 2030 January 15, 2020 The BBC today announced plans to double its global audience to reach 1bn people per week by the end of the decade. Director general Tony Hall today said the corporation aimed to build its global brand and expand its audience in a bid to pull in more revenue from outside the UK. “If we’re strong [...]
Aviva Investors buys Docklands hotel site for £106m January 15, 2020 Aviva Investors’ Lime Property Fund has bought a £106m hotel development site near Canary Wharf. The asset management arm of Aviva has acquired the freehold interest in the site next to Westferry DLR station, where developer Rockwell will build a 30-storey Premier Inn Hotel. Read more: London luxury hotel market booms Whitbread, the owner of [...]
Litigation costs dent Goldman Sachs’s fourth-quarter profit January 15, 2020 Goldman Sachs suffered a fall in profit in the final quarter of the year as high litigation provisions and investment banking weakness dented the Wall Street giant’s bottom line. Net earnings fell 26 per cent year on year to $1.72bn. The fall in profit took earnings per share to $4.69 in the fourth quarter from [...]
Carlos Ghosn claims French ambassador warned him in advance of ‘Nissan plot’ January 15, 2020 Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has claimed the French ambassador warned him just before his November 2018 arrest that his own company was plotting against him. “Frankly, I was shocked by the arrest and the first thing I asked is make sure Nissan knows so they can send me a lawyer,” Ghosn told Reuters in [...]
Ashmore assets under management near $100bn after strong inflows January 15, 2020 Positive investor sentiment towards emerging markets has helped boost specialist asset manager Ashmore close to the $100bn (£77bn) assets under management (AUM) milestone. In an update to the stock exchange today, Ashmore reported a 7.1 per cent increase in AUM, which jumped $6.5bn in the three months to 31 December to $98.4bn. Read more: Provident [...]
Nickie Aiken: The country must move forward as one January 14, 2020 At times during last month’s General Election, City A.M. readers could be forgiven for thinking it was taking place in a different country. For much of the campaign the focus was far from London, with frontbenchers and their battle buses taking them through the midlands and the north as Labour and Tories fought it out [...]
Revolut valued at $5bn ahead of new funding round January 14, 2020 UK-based fintech Revolut is reportedly set to be valued at $5bn (£3.85bn) in an upcoming funding round. Investor Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) is leading a funding round that is expected to close in January, according to documents seen by Financial News. The documents showed that investors had placed a pre-money valuation of $5bn on the [...]