Greek debt crisis: Banks will be closed on Monday as capital controls are imposed June 28, 2015 Greek banks will be closed tomorrow, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said, while capital controls are put in place, Read more: Take enough cash to Greece, Government advises British tourists He would not confirm the length of time they will remain closed for, but said Greek deposits were safe. The decision follows the European [...]
How Argentina’s struggle in the late 1990s could provide lessons to Greek leaders June 26, 2015 As Greece teeters on the brink of default, its leaders could do worse than to look to Argentina's own tussle with default back in the late 1990s. Why they're similar Like Greece, the economic crisis in Argentina began against a backdrop of deregulation and financial liberalisation – although in Argentina's case, its convertibilidad policy pegged the [...]
City Moves for 23 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 22, 2015 BLP Insurance The insurer has appointed Craig Parfitt as chief operating officer. He joins from Deutsche Bank, where he was managing director specialising in financial management, operational excellence, transformational change and project management. JP Morgan Asset Management Thushka Maharaj has been appointed global strategist and executive director in the asset management firm’s global strategy team. [...]
Greece on the brink ahead of crisis talks June 22, 2015 Greece faces bankruptcy and capital controls within days if Eurozone finance ministers fail to strike a bailout deal at an emergency meeting in Brussels today, the chairwoman of Greece’s largest bank has warned. Louka Katseli, chair of the National Bank of Greece, told City A.M. that without a deal Athens risked a technical default before [...]
Grexit: Not reaching a deal would be “insane”, says National Bank of Greece boss Louka Katseli June 21, 2015 The boss of Greece’s biggest bank has said it would be “insane” for the country not to reach a deal at emergency talks due to be held tomorrow between the Greek government and European leaders. Louka Katseli, the chair of the National Bank of Greece (BNG), told the BBC "I think sanity will prevail and [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Pretty Sagoo talks science, stress and Solvency II June 18, 2015 The whole pension thing was completely by accident,” says Pretty Sagoo, explaining how she ended up in banking, working with insurance and pension fund clients. In the language of the industry, her career has revolved around structuring and pricing deals, de-risking, swaps, hedges and the like. But Pretty doesn’t do jargon. “It just winds [...]
The great adventure: How to navigate the world of equity crowdfunding as an investor June 18, 2015 Debt and equity crowdfunding have the potential to revolutionise small business funding. In 2012, The Breedon Report predicted a funding gap of £59bn for UK companies by 2016, if nothing was done. The government’s response was to make funds available via alternative finance providers and to enhance the benefits to equity investors via the Enterprise [...]
Forget the doom-mongers: Investing in infrastructure is as safe as it sounds June 15, 2015 Received wisdom says that infrastructure is a safe and boring haven for long-term investors looking for yield in a low interest rate environment. Recently, however, the asset class has come under attack for being more risky than the low-yielding government bonds for which it is touted as an alternative home for investors’ cash. Even the [...]
George Osborne should prioritise taxpayer value over a rapid RBS privatisation June 9, 2015 Almost seven years on from the £46bn taxpayer bailout of RBS, it may seem perverse to ask “why the rush?” when it comes to selling our 79 per cent stake in the still-ailing bank. But this is precisely the question that must be posed if, as anticipated, George Osborne sets out at the Mansion House [...]
City Moves for 08 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 7, 2015 Dalriada Trustees The independent trustees firm has appointed Richard Favier as a trustee representative. He is a former head of restructuring and insolvency at the Pension Protection Fund, and left the PPF to set up his own consultancy in 2013. Favier is a member of the International Insolvency Institute. Arthur J Gallagher The international division [...]