COP26: Is the City ready for its leading role in the fight against climate change? April 10, 2021 Windows were smashed at Barclays headquarters this week by climate activists who urged the bank to cut its climate destructive investments. Last week campaigners painted the Bank of England (BoE) black in a bid to raise the alarm on the institution’s funding of Big Oil. Where money goes within the City is under more scrutiny [...]
BlackRock and Mustier’s blank cheque firm eye Credit Suisse fund management arm April 9, 2021 BlackRock and Jean-Pierre Mustier’s blank-check firm are among investors expressing interest in Credit Suisse’s asset management arm, three sources told Reuters, as the Swiss lender explores options for the unit after a run of costly scandals. U.S. investment firm State Street Corp is also eyeing a rival bid for all or part of the Swiss [...]
DEBATE: Are NFTs going to change the art world? April 8, 2021 Ezra Konvitz, Director at Founders Intelligence says No NFTs are immutable receipts, not artworks per se. Right now, they’re speculative assets without intrinsic value; unlike Dogecoin, however, the number of interested buyers for any single NFT will be highly constrained, defeating that purpose. Their prime use is either to launder money or to somehow show [...]
Some 1,200 HSBC staff to permanently work from home April 7, 2021 HSBC is moving more than 1,200 staff in the UK to permanent working from home contracts, marking yet another company making major changes to its working patterns post-pandemic. Around 70 per cent of the bank’s 1,800 call centre staff based across England, Wales and Scotland have volunteered to never return to the office, employment union [...]
Cruise ship operator Saga’s profit plunges as travel restrictions continue April 7, 2021 Saga, the over 50s holiday and insurance provider, suffered a sharp drop in profit during the coronavirus pandemic due to the negative impact of restrictions on international travel. Underlying profit before tax plunged 84.4 per cent from £109.9m to £17.1m, it said this morning. However, the cruise ship operator posted a statutory loss before tax [...]
Lex Greensill boasted of company’s ‘enormous’ liquidity before collapse April 7, 2021 Lex Greensill boasted to staff that his company had “enormous” liquidity just three weeks before the finance firm collapsed into insolvency, according to reports. The Australian financier reassured Greensill Capital staff in an internal video on 15 February that a funds held by Credit Suisse were robust, the Financial Times reported. “We’ve got enormous amounts [...]
Retail investors back Rio Tinto climate accountable proposals April 6, 2021 Retail investors have backed climate accountable proposals from Rio Tinto, which the miner will vote on this Friday, as accountability is pushed higher on this year’s agenda. 71.5 per cent of retail investors have called for chairs and CEOs of the mining giant to be held to account on Environments, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, [...]
Harvey Goldsmith: Events industry is bleeding and June 21 reopening plan is marred by confusion and chaos April 6, 2021 The Government’s roadmap tells us that on June 21st all Covid restrictions will disappear and the great British summer can begin. If only things were that simple. Like everyone in the events industry, I have had a year with no income and no business. Having spent five decades as a promoter, putting on some of [...]
The greatest gift Ever Given: Why we all loved the Big Boat stuck in the Suez April 1, 2021 In a world of extraordinary complexity, at a time of enormous uncertainty, a big boat stuck in the Suez Canal took us back to a simpler time. “The greater our knowledge increases,” said John F Kennedy in the speech that launched the US space programme, “the greater our ignorance unfolds.” So it proved to be. [...]
Lloyd’s of London chairman teases ‘exciting’ plans for famous underwriting room March 31, 2021 Staff at Lloyd’s of London could see more flexibility introduced into their working week post-pandemic, but the iconic underwriting room will remain a core part of the London’s insurance industry, according to the chairman of the insurance marketplace. The insurance marketplace will open its underwriting room on 17 May, in line with the government easing [...]