City Moves for 12 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 11, 2014 Cushman & Wakefield The real estate services firm has announced the appointment of David Mills as a partner and head of portfolio valuation. He was most recently at BNP Paribas Real Estate, where he was a director in its portfolio valuation practice. Standard Chartered The bank has hired Michael Benz as group head of private banking. He [...]
Administration rescued fewer stores in 2013 as retail struggles February 3, 2014 THE NUMBER of stores surviving when major retailers fall into administration dropped significantly this year, despite interest rates being held at historically low levels. According to restructuring and insolvency firm FRP Advisory, the proportion of shops staying open when big retail chains go into administration has dropped, from 50 per cent in 2012 to only [...]
Brighter outlook for companies as restructuring predicted to fall February 2, 2014 MORE than three quarters of lenders believe company restructurings will fall or level off this year, as the difficult environment for struggling companies starts to ease, a fresh poll out today says. The figures from Deloitte shows 52 per cent of lenders think the number of restructurings will fall over 2014 while 24 per cent [...]
RBS accused of vampire behaviour to kill SMEs January 29, 2014 SMALL businesses have been forced into a restructuring unit by RBS, where their assets were stripped and sold on for profit, a government advisor claimed yesterday, calling the lender a “vampire.” The bank denied the claims, arguing there is no evidence of the allegations made by Lawrence Tomlinson to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee. Tomlinson [...]
Why doesn’t UK growth reflect red hot business surveys? January 20, 2014 While several surveys are roaring higher, the strength implied by these indicators isn't apparent in official data. Deutsche Bank's chief UK economist, George Buckley, has looked into the problem ahead of the latest GDP figures, due on the 28 Janaury. Analysts expect fourth quarter GDP to come in slightly lower than the previous two quarters [...]
Former Kazakh banker set to be extradited January 9, 2014 A FORMER banker accused of embezzling up to $6bn (£3.6bn) from his employer should be extradited to Ukraine or Russia to face fraud charges, a French court ruled yesterday. Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was chairman of Kazakh bank BTA, had been in hiding since being sentenced to prison for contempt of court by an English judge [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 06 January 2014 January 6, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Europe to ease reform on bank splits Brussels is set to ease financial reforms so that big European banks are not forced automatically to split lending operations from risky trading. In a draft European Commission proposal, seen by the Financial Times, the separation is no longer mandatory, would be less costly and restrictive [...]
The year in preview: Our in-depth guide January 5, 2014 City A.M.’s journalists take a wide-ranging look at what 2014 has in store for the world of finance and business BANKINGRestoring faith means costly overhaulsA CAUTIOUS optimism pervades the British and European banking system at the start of 2014. The incoming economic recovery is at last improving customers’ creditworthiness, while the hard work running down [...]
Insurers warn of insolvencies as low interest rates hit bottom line December 2, 2013 INSURERS are warning that low interest rates could cause insolvencies in their industry, a report from Linklaters has found. Two thirds of insurers are looking to explore new markets, according to the global law firm, as low rates mean they are unable to turn a profit. The report found that 65 per cent are looking [...]
RSA Insurance Ireland CEO Philip Smith quits November 28, 2013 The chief executive of the Irish arm of RSA Insurance, Philip Smith, has resigned from the company after saying he has become the scapegoat for allegations of serious financial irregularities. In a statement Smith said he and his family have been traumatised by recent events. He also claims the ongoing probe by RSA has a [...]