WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 29, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHE BANK TARGETS FORCED SALES OF HEDGE FUNDS’ PROBLEM ASSETS Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch a fund to snap up investors’ illiquid or damaged holdings in hedge funds that have failed to recover since the financial crisis. The bank estimates that, three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, investors are sitting [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 24, 2012 Liberum Capital Mark Godridge has joined the investment bank as chief executive of its US subsidiary Liberum Capital Inc. He joins from JP Morgan Cazenove, where he has led the European and emerging market sales team since the merger of the two companies in 2010. In the five years preceding the buyout, Godridge was president [...]
Only drastic change can save RIM now January 23, 2012 FEW in the telecoms industry will mourn the departure of Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. As co-chairmen and co-CEOs of BlackBerry maker RIM, the pair wielded far too much power over the troubled handset maker. It was an open secret that the chief executives of the big network operators found it incredibly hard to do [...]
Law firms jump the fences in a quest for capital January 19, 2012 EARLIER this week, law firm Irwin Mitchell hired Glyn Barker as its chairman designate. Barker, a 30-year veteran of PwC, built the accountancy giant’s private equity practice and was its vice chairman until the end of last month. In the corporate world, cross-hiring between industries is common – take Chris Grigg’s sideways jump from Barclays [...]
CANDY BROTHERS SEEK ENLIGHTENMENT WITH SERENE NEW TENANTS January 19, 2012 THE BEST things come to those who wait – and this week the Candy brothers have finally revealed two new tenants for their One Hyde Park development. About time for the block of super-apartments that has secured just three full-time residents one year after launch. Except – unfortunately for the Knightsbridge complex that has been [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES TWO BANKS IN DANGER AS DEADLINE APPROACHES European regulators are convinced that two of the continent’s banks will fail to produce credible plans to plug capital deficits by Friday’s deadline, exposing both to the risk of full or partial nationalisation. Officials said that it looked “almost inevitable” that a fresh injection of state [...]
Citi disappoints as profit slumps January 17, 2012 CITIGROUP revealed an 11 per cent collapse in fourth quarter profits yesterday in an earnings report that fell well short of expectations and sent the bank’s shares tumbling 8.1 per cent. The bank posted its lowest revenues since 2008, a year so bad that it led to a rescue by the Federal Reserve. Annual revenues [...]
Private sector bidders line up to win MoD outsourcing contracts January 15, 2012 SUPPORT services firm Serco is in the running to win two key contracts at the Ministry of Defence. The group is believed to be battling IBM for the contract to manage back office services, such as human resources and finance, for the department. It is also thought to be up against Capita for the right [...]
Meccano-set towers: how London offices are evolving January 15, 2012 JE ne regrette rien. That is the message from Chris Grigg when we discuss his decision to quit banking in 2008 to take the reins at commercial property giant British Land. At the time, many in the City thought the former head of Barclays’ commercial bank was simply quitting one troubled industry for another; his [...]
UK industrial output falls in November January 12, 2012 British industrial output posted a surprise fall in November as oil and gas extraction and electricity production were scaled back sharply, official data showed, raising the prospect the overall economy contracted in the final quarter of 2011. The figures from the Office for National Statistics confirm recent weak business surveys and boost concerns that Britain [...]