BBA chief hits back at Turner September 24, 2009 Angela Knight, the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, last night launched a barely-disguised broadside against Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Adair Turner, after the watchdog chief aired a series of criticisms of the City. She said regulators should not “demonise” bankers.
Wharf raises 1bn to save it from brink September 24, 2009 SONGBIRD Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, yesterday announced a £1.03bn rescue fundraising – the biggest ever in UK real estate history. The group will use the majority of the cash raised to pay down its £800m senior loan with Citi, which was due to expire next year. Without the fundraising, Songbird would have [...]
CONSERVATION AREAS NEAR THE CITY September 23, 2009 GRAFF HOUSE, RICHMONDGraff House sits within the trust grounds of St Margarets, a mile away from Richmond town centre. St Margarets trust grounds are made up of three secure private gardens making up 12 acres, which naturally lend themselves to family picnics, tennis tournaments and sports days. The Thames, Kew Gardens and the Richmond Deer [...]
Court battle for Deutsche in New York September 23, 2009 DEUTSCHE Bank and a banking unit of Saudi Arabia’s Algosaibi family battled in court yesterday over whether to throw out a $74.2m (£45.3m) claim by the German bank, part of a flurry of lawsuits involving billions of dollars and allegations of fraud. New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried said he expects to rule [...]
Cadbury and Kraft bosses woo investors September 22, 2009 THE bosses of Kraft and Cadbury are holding a series of meetings in London this week to drum up support from investors in the bid battle for the Dairy Milk maker. Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer and Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld yesterday attended the Bank of America Merrill Lynch global consumer and retail conference and [...]
Office rents will start to rise September 21, 2009 Rent for premium offices in the City and the West End will start to rise in 2010, following the correction seen in 2008 and much of 2009, according to Knight Frank. This reflects less than expected distress in the market in 2009, a significant recovery in demand recorded in the summer, the recent rally seen [...]
CABLE’S PLANS?FOR 1M HOME TAX SLAMMED September 21, 2009 PROPERTY experts yesterday ridiculed Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable’s pledge to introduce an annual levy on homes worth more than £1m, warning that the measure would lay waste to an already fragile housing market. The so-called “mansion tax”, proposed by Cable at the Lib Dem annual party conference yesterday, would see some 250,000 households [...]
A QUEST FOR FINE WINES September 16, 2009 JEFF GALVINWe follow the Galvin brothers as they count down to the opening of their new City restaurant SOME parts of opening a restaurant are arduous, but others are pure fun. One of the most important things about our new restaurant La Chapelle will be the wine. Our quest for the best wine we can [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 15, 2009 Conduit Capital MarketsThe mid-market institutional derivatives and securities dealer has appointed Rakesh Chhabra as its new chief financial officer. Chhabra qualified at Moore Stephens and joined Coopers and Lybrand in 1994. He worked at Mesirow Europe before being appointed to his most recent role as finance manager at Knight Equity Markets International Limited, where he [...]
Regulators in force in City women list… September 13, 2009 MARGARET Cole and Verena Ross lead a quartet of women from the financial regulation sector making their first appearances on the Financial News’ list of 100 most influential women in finance, released today. The pair, both from the Financial Services Authority, are joined by Jane de Lozey from the Serious Fraud Office and Barbara Ridpath [...]