All can fail: my new manifesto for the banks January 25, 2010 REGULAR readers of this column will know that I am no fan of many of the proposals being cooked up to reform the banks. I have opposed Barack Obama’s plan to ban retail banks from engaging in proprietary trading; George Osborne’s support of Glass-Steagall, which would break up commercial and investment banks; and Alistair Darling’s [...]
Report says UK rules took Citi to brink November 9, 2009 A REPORT into the US bank bailouts has raised questions about whether the Financial Services Authority (FSA) pushed Citigroup towards the brink in November 2008 in a bid to protect UK interests from another Lehman Brothers-type collapse. A footnote to a report by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) claims that the FSA ratcheted up liquidity [...]
Long-term care provision: a chance for redemption October 25, 2009 WHEN it comes to old age, it is not just the elderly who can get confused. For years, politicians, policy makers and economists alike have struggled to provide a sustainable solution to the problem of funding long-term care for elderly people in an ageing UK population. As part of this debate, the City of London [...]
Long-term care provision: a chance for redemption October 25, 2009 WHEN it comes to old age, it is not just the elderly who can get confused. For years, politicians, policy makers and economists alike have struggled to provide a sustainable solution to the problem of funding long-term care for elderly people in an ageing UK population. As part of this debate, the City of London [...]
The US is down, but it is far from out September 30, 2009 THERE is nothing better for the soul than a visit to New York. London is the greatest City on earth; but the Big Apple comes a close second. America has suffered even more badly than Britain from the crisis: a greater number of homes have been repossessed, millions have lost their jobs and vast wealth [...]
City should not fear new regulations on bonuses August 16, 2009 No sooner had the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced new proposals on how financial institutions should determine salaries and incentives last week, they were attacked for being too soft on bankers’ pay. Some critics even went so far as to call for a windfall tax on bonuses. However, now that we have seen several banks [...]
SUSTAINABLE BANKING IS WAY FORWARD June 17, 2009 MOORAD CHOUDRYHEAD OF TREASURY, EUROPE ARAB BANK THE financial crash of 2007-2008 was caused by the interaction of several different factors, some of which had been building for years. Since then markets have entered a period of restructuring that reflects the realities of the crash: key to this is an awareness that much of the [...]
Could now be the moment to enter the dragon? August 8, 2008 As the Olympics begin, China has never been more intriguing, says Samantha Downes It was once a region where only the least risk-averse would fear to tread, but China has emerged as a magnet for investors’ cash. In the last decade the communist-run country has emerged as the world’s second largest economy. Its willingness to [...]
London’s hidden houses November 3, 2005 Author, photographer, broadcaster and campaigner Lucinda Lambton goes in search of the hidden country houses of Greater London and unearths some unexpected jewels that have somehow survived the rampages of modern development Barking and Dagenham, Carshalton, Bexley Heath and Ickenham: these are not usually names to conjure up visions of the great English country house. [...]