Confusion risk: the next frontier January 4, 2021 When people talk about the frontiers of FinTech, they usually mean new technologies or processes; something that changes the way we do things and causes wonderment. Usually, the last thing they think about is legal and regulatory issues. As 2021 dawns, this is going to change. Except perhaps the lack of wonderment about regulation. New [...]
Sunday Talk: Mark Ridley, CEO of real estate giant Savills January 2, 2021 In a wide-ranging interview, City A.M. discusses fundraising challenges, Brexit and the shift to home working with Mark Ridley, who has been the group CEO of Savills since 2019, the London-based, LSE-listed real estate services giant which had a revenue of £1.93bn in 2019 and currently employs around 40,000 people in the UK and across Europe. The [...]
FirstGroup offload three US properties in £100m deal December 31, 2020 Transport outfit FirstGroup have offloaded three properties used by its US bus group, Greyhound, in deals worth £102m. The Aberdeen-based firm confirmed the deal to the stock market this morning. The biggest of the three deals is an agreement to sell Greyhound’s Los Angeles terminal to a subsidiary of property firm Prologis for $88m (£65m). [...]
House price growth hits six-year high as pandemic fails to quell demand December 30, 2020 House prices grew at the fastest rate in six years in 2020, a respected tracker has revealed. Property prices skyrocketed by 7.3 per cent across the year, according to the Nationwide House Price Index. Home prices increased by 0.8 per cent in December alone. Read more: A booming Britain will need a broadband boost The [...]
Whitbread – at the end of the day, someone has to pay December 24, 2020 Whitbread, the owner of popular hospitality chains Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, has written to the landlords of its properties asking for a rent reduction of 50% for the next three months, to “share some of the pain” of the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions on hospitality. It seems, prima facie, a reasonable request. [...]
Central London’s luxury property dips on Brexit uncertainty December 22, 2020 The allure of luxury property in central London has waned this year amid Brexit uncertainty and weaker demand. With Brexit reaching an impasse ahead of the end of the transition period, the annual price change in prime central and prime outer London properties grew to its widest this month. Average prices in prime central London [...]
Aon’s $30 billion Willis Towers deal in EU antitrust crosshairs December 21, 2020 Aon’s $30 billion bid for Willis Towers Watson to create the world’s largest insurance broker faces a five-month long investigation after EU antitrust regulators voiced concerns that the deal may hurt competition in key markets. The merger of the world’s second and third largest brokers would overtake world No. 1 Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. [...]
UK house prices end year on high with £62bn more deals than 2019 December 21, 2020 UK house prices are set to finish the year on a high note despite the worst downturn since the 1700s, with the residential property market racking up £62bn more in agreed sales in 2020 than last year, according to new data. Property website Zoopla said house prices rose at an annual rate of 3.9 per [...]
Natwest buys Metro Bank’s £3bn mortgage portfolio December 18, 2020 Natwest is set to buy Metro Bank’s £3bn mortgage portfolio in a deal which will see 13,000 customers transferred over to the lender. The deal comes after the high street bank returned to profit after taking a £.21bn hit from the pandemic in the first half of the year. “Growing our mortgage book is an [...]
Hammerson seeks secondary Irish listing amid Brexit worries December 18, 2020 European shopping centre owner, Hammerson has sought admission to Dublin's stock exchange to maintain access to the European market.