Xavier Rolet hits back at junior bankers complaining about working hours August 2, 2021 The former boss of the London Stock Exchange Group, Xavier Rolet, has accused junior bankers who routinely work 100-hour weeks of moaning about conditions. A survey taken by 13 new recruits at Goldman Sachs revealed that surging workloads have taken a toll on mental health during the pandemic. Pleas by junior bankers to work just [...]
Zoom agrees $85m settlement over privacy and ‘zoombombing’ allegations August 2, 2021 Video software company Zoom has agreed to pay $85m (£61.9m) to settle a privacy lawsuit claiming the firm violated user’s rights and allowed hackers into meetings. The conferencing firm had allegedly shared users personal data with Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn. The lawsuit also claimed Zoom had failed to prevent hackers from zoombombing calls. Zoombombing is [...]
Astrazeneca mulls offloading Covid vaccines unit even as total revenues soar above $15bn July 29, 2021 UK-listed Covid vaccine maker Astrazeneca today admitted it’s considering offloading its vaccines unit even as it cheered a 23 per cent revenue rise to $15.5bn for the first half of 2021 – boosted in part by orders for the preventative measure. A senior executive confirmed to Reuters that it is reviewing the future of the [...]
Credit Suisse Archegos probe reveals serious management shortfalls July 29, 2021 A lack of accountability and weak internal controls to monitor risk drove Credit Suisse’s $5.5bn loss on investment fund Archegos, according to a damning review published on Thursday. Law firm Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrisson released the findings of an investigation into the lender’s investment in Archegos. It blamed the losses on poor risk [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? July 28, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Environmental Agency chair joins Green Finance Institute board The Green Finance Institute (GFI) has posted the chair of the UK’s Environmental Agency as its new interim chair, following the death of its founding chairman Sir Roger [...]
Exclusive: IWG founder and office veteran Mark Dixon on why hybrid working is the new normal July 28, 2021 Office space giant IWG swung to a £650m loss last year due to the impact of coronavirus on working habits, it announced earlier this year. However, founder and CEO Mark Dixon has full confidence in the future of London’s offices, as he sits down with City A.M. for an exclusive interview. Dixon said his company [...]
Google owner Alphabet smashes earnings estimates on digital advertising boom July 27, 2021 Google parent company Alphabet sprinted past revenue expectations for the second quarter, as the pandemic-induced surge in online shopping powered companies’ digital advertising spend. The tech giant posted revenue of $61.88bn in the three months to 30 June, up 62 per cent from the same period last year, and miles in front of Wall Street estimates [...]
Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations on soaring demand for cloud computing July 27, 2021 Microsoft beat earnings expectations and posted a rise in revenue for the fourth quarter, as the ongoing shift to remote working bolstered demand for its cloud computing services. Microsoft reported a 21 per cent rise in revenue to $46.2bn in the three months ending 30 June – beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.24bn, according to [...]
UK Covid cases have now fallen for seven days in a row. Is this the beginning of the end? July 27, 2021 The number of people testing positive for new cases of Covid-19 has now fallen for seven days in a row, prompting thoughts that the UK may be through the worst of the third wave of the pandemic. But are they justified? A seven day stretch of falling case rates last happened in summer last year, [...]
Big Tech earnings: What to expect this week as tech titans report July 27, 2021 Wall Street is gearing up for a slew of Big Tech earnings this week with Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft all set to deliver figures for their latest quarter. Twitter and Snap kicked off proceedings by smashing expectations last week, raising hopes that a post-pandemic advertising rebound will boost other platforms. Tesla also shrugged [...]