City Moves for 20 March 2015 | Who’s switching jobs March 19, 2015 Baker Tilly The audit, tax, and accountancy firm has appointed Rowan Williams as head of its professional services group. She joined Baker Tilly in 2009, and has led its London business advisory team and its professional services group in London and the South. Old Mutual Wealth Mary-Anne McIntyre has been appointed chief distribution officer at [...]
On life, taxes and Osborne’s chance to beat a £20bn target March 18, 2015 If taxes are one of life’s few certainties, then taxes on banks are becoming just as predictable. Just when HSBC thought its lot could not get any tougher, up pops George Osborne with his bi-annual hike to the rate of the charge on lenders’ balance sheets. The chancellor’s final pre-General Election Budget included a commitment [...]
Mortgage loan slowdown may be at an end as house prices predicted to rise March 17, 2015 Mortgage lending dropped again in January, industry data showed yesterday, as the market continued to plateau. But economists think this weak spell could be at an end, with lending set to pick up across the rest of 2015. The month saw 22,400 home movers take out mortgages, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), down [...]
Atom Bank’s chief Mark Mullen on using the Post Office to launch challengers March 16, 2015 Digital banking sounds super-cool. You can manage your money entirely on a smartphone and, if you choose a new challenger, stick it to the big banks at the same time. There is one big problem – where do you pay in cash? Atom Bank’s boss thinks shared hubs like the Post Office could be the [...]
London leads national house price growth March 12, 2015 London and the south east are leading national house price growth despite slowing substantially, new figures show today. Average UK house prices were 6.8 per cent higher in February than they were in the same month last year, according to figures released by property services firm LSL today. If London and the south east are [...]
Scant supply of homes pushes prices higher March 5, 2015 RISING incomes, stamp duty changes and a supply shortage are putting upward pressure on house prices, new figures show. The average house price rose 8.3 per cent in February compared to February 2014, according to data released yesterday by mortgage lender Halifax. It marks a slight slowdown in growth from the 8.5 per cent year-on-year [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
Aldermore to be valued at up to £660m as bank covers book March 3, 2015 CHALLENGER bank Aldermore is set to debut on the stock market next week with a valuation of between £600m and £660m, City A.M. understands. The lender tried to list late last year but had to pull the initial public offering when choppy markets hit investor confidence. But buyers are understood to be flooding into the lower-priced offering [...]
Landlords put up more equity for buy-to-let loans March 1, 2015 BUY-TO-LET borrowers are putting up more equity before making new purchases in a bid to shorten mortgage terms, according to a new report by the Mortgage Advice Bureau. Aspiring landlords have increased the amount of equity behind them by 15 per cent during the past year to an average of almost £100,000, while the average [...]
City Moves for 27 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 26, 2015 Octopus Investments The fund management firm has appointed Richard Wazacz as business line manager for venture capital trusts. He was formerly corporate development director for UK and Europe at Prudential. Wazacz has also held senior positions at Lloyds Banking Group. BLP The law firm has appointed Daniyal Ansari as partner in its real estate finance [...]