City Moves for 24 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 23, 2015 PwC Alex Petsopoulos has been appointed partner in the professional services firm’s cyber security practice. He joins from Deloitte, where he was a partner in its security practice. Petsopoulos has over 14 years’ experience in the IT industry. State Street Global Advisors State Street’s asset management business has appointed Greg Ehret as president. He has [...]
John Lewis has started selling the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S6 and other smartphones, partnering Vodafone to offer contracts June 23, 2015 High street favourite John Lewis is going mobile and will for the first time stock smartphones on its shelves in an ambitious move to sate people's appetite for mobile devices and grab a share of the rocketing market. More than 25 sim-free handsets will go on sale online from today, while the department store is [...]
Standard & Poor’s: Brexit could “significantly dent” UK financial services and insurance sectors June 23, 2015 Any departure from the European Union could do significant harm to the UK's insurance and financial services sectors, ratings agency Standard & Poor's has suggested. Read more: Eurosceptic report sets the stage for Brexit In a report published today, the organisation pointed out that between them, the two sectors account for 30 per cent of [...]
London FinTech startup Currency Cloud raises $18m series C funding from Rakuten, Sapphire Ventures and other investors June 23, 2015 One of London’s FinTech stars has landed a new round of funding as investors scramble for a piece of London’s booming financial technology sector. Currency Cloud has landed $18m (around £12m) from investors, including ecommerce giant Rakuten, in its latest funding round, just a week after London cemented its status as the tech capital of [...]
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. [...]
Stocks rise on flurry of new M&A activity – New York Report June 22, 2015 SENTIMENT was lifted yesterday as hopes grew that a deal would be reached to prevent Greece from defaulting on loans, as well as by merger and acquisition activity, helping the Nasdaq to close at a record. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 104.53 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 18,120.48, the S&P 500 gained 13 [...]
TaxPayers’ Alliance: Travel taxes hitting businesses and holiday makers June 22, 2015 Britain's businesses and holiday makers are being hit by a growing tax bill. New research from the campaign group the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) found that holiday makers are paying £900m more than when it conducted the survey in 2008. However, TPA chief executive Jonathan Isaby notes that the rising taxes also hit Britain's [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker lays out two-year plan for reforms across the Eurozone June 21, 2015 European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has set out a decade-long timeline for Eurozone reforms. In a report commissioned by European Union leaders, which involved input from the presidents of the European Central Bank, European Parliament, European Council and Eurogroup, the Commission calls for the completion of the euro area’s economic and monetary union, with “immediate [...]
City Moves for 22 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 21, 2015 Millstream Management Services Simon Crewe has been appointed managing director of the retirement development manager. He has over 25 years’ experience in the industry, and has also served as managing director of Goldsborough Estates, part of Bupa UK. JLT Re Craig Brokenshire has been appointed global chief operating officer at the reinsurance broking and consultancy [...]
Growing taxes ramping up travel costs for businesses and holiday makers June 21, 2015 Britain's businesses and holiday makers are being hit by a growing tax bill. Research from the campaign group the TaxPayer's Alliance (TPA) says that holidaymakers are paying £900m more in taxes, than when it conducted the survey in 2008. Taxes on holiday items such as suncream, insurance and flights have forced up the cost of [...]