FOREIGN EXCHANGE AS MOSCOW MOVES TO BECOME WORLD-CLASS July 21, 2011 CAN MOSCOW ever become a world-class financial centre? BP may have had its fingers burned over the ill-fated Rosneft deal, but Anglo-Russian relations are being improved behind the scenes following a Moscow-London foreign exchange to set up the Moscow International Finance Centre (MIFC). First, Lord Mayor Michael Bear – the co-chairman of the MIFC Liaison [...]
City plays crucial role in stronger civil society July 10, 2011 ONE of my priorities as Lord Mayor is to strengthen the centuries-old tradition of working to improve the lives of others. The City has a crucial role to play in building a stronger civil society, especially as the Square Mile neighbours some of the poorest areas in Europe. Contrary to reports of bankers and their [...]
ROTHSCHILD COURTS OLIGARCHS UNDER £1M MONTENEGRO SKIES July 10, 2011 BIG BUSINESS came to Montenegro this weekend, lured by the £1m fortieth birthday celebrations for Nat Rothschild, the billionaire scion of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Peter Mandelson, Russian investor Oleg Deripaska and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich were among the 300 oligarchs and mining magnates who flew to “the St Tropez of the Adriatic” for the [...]
STRICTLY BUSINESS BRIEF ENDS VINCE CABLE’S DANCING DREAM June 28, 2011 THERE is something bothering business secretary Vince Cable – and it’s not the separation of retail and investment banking, the Greek debt crisis or even waging war on Rupert Murdoch. No – Cable is concerned his demanding day job could mean he never fulfils his dream of returning to Strictly Come Dancing for a full [...]
Cable risks a split with his line on strikes June 26, 2011 BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable said yesterday he did not think it would be necessary to reform strike legislation and stressed that he had no plans to do so. “We’re not looking at that, and we’re not planning it, and we certainly don’t want to go down that road,” he said on Pienaar’s Politics on BBC [...]
UK needs firm Russian links for Soviet revival June 26, 2011 As I prepare to lead a senior City business delegation to Moscow and St Petersburg, economic winds of change seem to be blowing across Russia. There is no doubt that Russia is an economic powerhouse, with the country’s sheer size and abundance of natural resources ensuring it is an important player on the global stage. [...]
Lessons to learn from Swiss watches June 23, 2011 IT is my favourite fact of the day: exports of Swiss watches jumped by an astonishing 40 per cent in May. Exports to China were up 41 per cent in May, to South Korea by 39 per cent and to Singapore by 35 per cent. Even Western demand is recovering, albeit not by as much. [...]
Chelsea Barracks £3bn plan approved June 21, 2011 NEW plans for the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks in central London were given the go-ahead yesterday by Westminster council, two years after the Prince of Wales intervened over the original plans for the site. The outline of the masterplan for the scheme, which will cost around £3bn, will see the 13-acre property that used to [...]
Chelsea Barracks £3bn plan approved June 21, 2011 NEW plans for the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks in central London were given the go-ahead yesterday by Westminster council, two years after the Prince of Wales intervened over the original plans for the site. The outline of the masterplan for the scheme, which will cost around £3bn, will see the 13-acre property that used to [...]
MALMAISON TAKES NO PRISONERS AS BANKER COUPLE TURN JAIL BAIT June 16, 2011 EVEN if you have never stayed at Oxford’s Malmaison hotel, you may know the former jail from its TV appearances in Porridge, Inspector Morse and The Italian Job. The boutique hotel – which until 1996 was known as Her Majesty’s Prison Oxford – is now a home from home for the bankers of Britain, who [...]