Ladies who don’t lunch: Maike Currie talks to Christine Johnson about bonds, bubbles and being a rebel July 14, 2016 "I am definitely a bond person,” says Christine Johnson, head of fixed income at Old Mutual Global Investors. We’re having lunch at Spring restaurant in Somerset House and I am beginning to understand what Christine means when she says that as a fund manager you need to “live your job”. She likens her personality to [...]
Banks clobbered by $6bn forex-rigging fine but share prices rise as penalties less severe than expected May 20, 2015 Six of the world’s biggest banks were punished with a mega $5.7bn (£3.7bn) fine by financial watchdogs yesterday after foreign currency traders were found to have rigged prices to rip off customers. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss giant UBS and three US banks – JP Morgan Chase, Citi and Bank of America – [...]
RBS sells $5.6bn North American loan portfolio to Mizuho Bank April 27, 2015 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will sell a $5.6bn (£3.7bn) portfolio of loan commitments to Mizuho Bank, it said today – its second deal with the Japanese lender in three months. Around two-thirds of RBS' North American corporate loan portfolio has now been disposed of as the shrinking bank looks to exit many of [...]
US officials hand down multi-billion forex-rigging fine to UBS, JPMorgan, RBS, Citicorp and Barclays May 20, 2015 US officials have confirmed the multi-billion-dollar bill being paid by five of the world's biggest banks for their involvement in the forex-rigging scandal. JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citicorp and Barclays will plead guilty to US criminal charges, paying a total of $5.6bn to settle the allegations that date back to 2007. UBS is [...]
EU referendum: London will be stronger if the UK remains as a semi-detached member of the club April 7, 2016 Any freedom gained by Brexit will come at the expense of opportunity and London will bear the brunt if Britain votes to leave. London will be stronger if the UK remains as a semi-detached but full member of the club, as negotiated by Prime Minister David Cameron in his reform deal. London has flourished by being [...]
Cumbria, Appleby and Keswick flooding: UK weather warnings issued as Storm Desmond hits December 5, 2015 Parts of the UK were plunged into chaos today as Storm Desmond swept across the country, bringing heavy rain, gale force winds and flooding. There have been 26 severe flood warnings, indicating a danger to life, issued by the Environment Agency. Read more: Insurers already ready for bad weather and Storm Desmond And the Met Office issued its highest red warning for [...]
City Moves for 29 April 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 28, 2015 Goodwin Procter The law firm has appointed Catriona Berman as partner in its real estate capital markets practice in London. She will join from Macfarlanes following completion of her notice period, and advises on a wide range of real estate transactions. Metro Bank John Nelson has been appointed head of invoice finance for the bank’s [...]
RBS investment bank head Rory Cullinan resigns weeks after joking it was boring on Snapchat March 30, 2015 Rory Cullinan has resigned as head of Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) investment bank just weeks after he was caught complaining of being bored on Snapchat. RBS had only handed the role to Cullinan at the end of last month, and had expected him to lead a major scaling back program of its investment bank [...]
RBS to sell stake in US subsidiary Citizens Financial March 23, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland will shrink its stake in its US subsidiary Citizens Financial to below 50 per cent. Citizens Financial has announced RBS will sell off 115m shares in the company which only listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September. RBS will also grant the underwriters – including Morgan Stanley, Goldman [...]
Five FinTech startups to watch: RBS, Lloyds and American Express back finance innovation June 17, 2015 Five tech startups seeking to disrupt the financial industry have caught the eye of some of the world's leading firms in the sector. A savings app, a company using visual cryptography to create secure passwords and a real-time sales platform for local businesses are just three of the winners in the search for startups creating [...]