WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 21, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES EX-LEHMAN CHIEF TO RUN SPAIN’S ECONOMY Spain’s new government has placed the economy in the hands of Luis de Guindos, former head of Lehman Brothers in Spain, as Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister, seeks to return the country to growth while embarking on a programme of budgetary austerity. As finance minister, Mr de [...]
TOWER 42 SNAPPED UP FOR £282.5M December 21, 2011 NATHAN Kirsh, the South African property investor, has bought City skyscraper Tower 42 from BlackRock UK Property Fund and LaSalle Investment Management for £282.5m. The acquisition of Natwest’s former headquarters on Old Broad Street, one of the tallest office buildings in London, marks Kirsh’s first deal since selling a 29 per cent stake in property [...]
FSA vows no repeat of ABN Amro fiasco December 12, 2011 THE CITY regulator has vowed to get “deeply into the guts” of any future financial services takeover on the scale of Royal Bank of Scotland’s acquisition of ABN Amro. Chairman Lord Turner said the Financial Services Authority would take a far more proactive approach today to the €71bn (£47bn) takeover of the Dutch bank, led [...]
RBS: WHO TAKES THE BLAME? December 12, 2011 Sir Fred Goodwin The FSA had harboured worries about Fred the Shred’s internal dominance as far back as 2003. It criticised the ABN Amro deal, his brainchild, as a “gamble” and dismissed the due diligence carried out as little more than “two lever arch folders and a CD”. Goodwin’s relationship with the FSA slumped to [...]
FSA could win veto on mega-takeovers December 11, 2011 THE City regulator could be given new powers to veto bank takeovers after the publication today of a controversial report into the collapse of RBS. The recommendation, believed to be included in the 500-page document prepared by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), is designed to prevent a repeat of the RBS-led €71bn (£49bn) takeover of [...]
South African billionaire in talks to take over Tower 42 November 17, 2011 SOUTH African billionaire Nathan Kirsh could soon be making a comeback to the City as the new owner of the Tower 42 skyscraper. Kirsh’s family office is understood to be in advanced talks to buy Natwest’s former headquarters on Old Broad Street, which would mark Kirsch’s first deal since selling a 29 per cent stake [...]
ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF November 6, 2011 SMES TO HIRE MORE STAFF THIS YEAR Over two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses owners intend to hire new staff in the next six months. This has emerged as the results of research done by the London Entrepreneurial Exchange (LEE). The majority of business owners also agree with the government’s decisions to extend the unfair [...]
Simon Lee steps up to lead RSA ahead of time October 27, 2011 SIMON Lee, the well-regarded international head of insurance group Royal Sun Alliance, will step up to the post of group chief executive next Tuesday, two months earlier than originally announced. Lee replaces Andy Haste, who has led RSA since 2003 and overseen a period of strong growth and profitability at the home and motor insurer. [...]
Barclays to offer 90pc mortgages October 26, 2011 BARCLAYS launched a new bid to entice prospective house-buyers back to the market yesterday by offering no-fee mortgages needing only a ten per cent deposit. The bank has refused to offer 90 per cent loan-to-value mortgages since 2008 when it pulled them during the financial crisis, but is now following rivals such as NatWest and [...]
London lets the world in October 26, 2011 TWENTY-FIVE years ago today the doors of the London Stock Exchange were blown wide open. In one sweeping moment of market deregulation, London’s horizons suddenly broadened, and money flowed into the Square Mile. Outside investment broke up the LSE’s boys’ club and fixed commission charges for brokers, which effectively killed competition, were scrapped. The brainchild [...]