La Caixa Foundation – No.4 December 18, 2014 Spain – £309m La Caixa Foundation’s chairman Isidro Faine likes to quote the words of assassinated senator Robert Kennedy to describe the Spanish bank’s attitude to charity. “Senator, Robert F. Kennedy, once said ‘the future is not a gift; it’s an achievement'. These words remind us that our efforts in the present will determine [...]
Festive cheer: Even busy City workers should volunteer this Christmas December 11, 2014 It’s the season to be jolly, and the capital’s workers are flocking to celebrity-packed carol services, helping to swell the coffers of deserving charities. Just this week, guests joined the likes of Lesley Garrett, Dame Eileen Atkins and Colin Murray to raise £24,000 for children’s mental health charity Place2Be. And in the Square Mile, a [...]
Rapid climb in headcount at firms in professional sector November 24, 2014 The business and professional sector is seeing its fastest growth in employment for seven years. Survey data released today by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also shows hiring intentions in the business and professional sector – which included accountants, lawyers and marketing firms – remained high. The difference between the percentage of firms reporting [...]
Banker bonus cap row: Lawyers react to the European Court of Justice bonus cap rebuffal November 20, 2014 The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has rebuffed George Osborne's battle against banker bonus caps – but what do the City's lawyers think of it? To recap, today Niilo Jääskinen, an advocate general at the European Court of Justice's (ECJ), said the bonus caps – which limit bankers' bonuses at 100 per cent of [...]
Combined parental leave gets 63pc support from parents or parents-to-be in FTSE 100 firms November 19, 2014 Substantially more parents are in favour of taking shared parental leave than had been previously estimated by the government, according to a report published yesterday by law firm Linklaters. According to the study – based on the answers of 250 parents or parents-to-be working in FTSE 100 firms – 63 per cent would be interested [...]
Sport Comment: Not all of Gazza’s old pals have fled – but now it’s down to him October 30, 2014 by Bill Bradshaw Walking towards City A.M.’s office the other day I saw a poster plastered across one of those new hydrogen-powered buses: “Help London Rebuild Gaza!” it pleaded. I did a double-take. It was advertising an event at the Troxy theatre in aid of the crisis-hit region but – for a moment – I [...]
Sports Direct “to be held to account” over zero-hours contracts October 28, 2014 Sports Direct is being forced to make clear its zero-hours contracts do not guarantee work as part of a wide-reaching set of legally-binding promises agreed after an employee took legal action against the retailer. The Mike Ashley-owned business, which currently employs around 20,000 staff on the controversial contracts, has agreed to re-write its job [...]
Asda faces mass legal action over pay inequality: Female shopfloor workers say they receive less than males in warehouses October 26, 2014 Thousands of female shop floor workers are taking legal action against Asda over pay inequality. They claim they are paid less than many male employees working in warehouses, despite doing equally valuable work for the supermarket chain. Law firm Leigh Day told the Guardian that 19,000 Asda employees had approached it since April, [...]
Robert Walters: The recruitment boss who thinks your pay is set to jump in 2015 October 7, 2014 City jobs mogul Robert Walters tells Chris Papadopoullos why the future is bright Wages are a hotter-than-usual topic these days – at least as far as economists are concerned. The rate at which our pay goes up (or fails to) is said to hold the key as to whether the Bank of England finally [...]
HSBC UK director Alan Thomson resigns over banking regulation threat as second exec ‘mulls exit’ October 7, 2014 One of HSBC's UK directors has resigned from his position ahead of new rules that strengthen the hand of regulators to penalised managers of failed banks. City A.M. understands Alan Thomson, a member of the audit and risk committees of HSBC Bank, has tendered his resignation and will leave the board in October. Sky News initially [...]