Treat your career as a professional journey September 12, 2012 AS GRADUATE entrants prepare for their first weeks in the City, some might wonder whether they’ve signed up for a job or a profession. We assume that law and medicine are professions – life-long career choices with strict knowledge requirements, and professional bodies sitting in judgement over the actions of their members. Wrongly, we don’t [...]
Treat your career as a professional journey September 12, 2012 AS GRADUATE entrants prepare for their first weeks in the City, some might wonder whether they’ve signed up for a job or a profession. We assume that law and medicine are professions – life-long career choices with strict knowledge requirements, and professional bodies sitting in judgement over the actions of their members. Wrongly, we don’t [...]
Switching bank accounts is easier than many imagine July 22, 2012 IF YOU only sourced financial advice from politicians, you might think switching bank accounts is next to impossible. Ed Miliband pledged that a Labour government would revolutionise banking by clearing hurdles to changing banks. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls alleged that “it’s very difficult to change bank accounts.” If you don’t like your bank’s behaviour – [...]
Greece hurt by transparency in bond markets June 18, 2012 INVESTORS are now better placed to identify risky government debt thanks to the growth in the sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) market, a new report has found. However, that has had a negative impact on debt-laden governments as investors find it easier to see when a state like Greece is struggling, according to the International [...]
S&P shifts insurers’ ratings rule May 31, 2012 Standard & Poor’s will change the way it assigns global ratings to insurers, in part to increase the consideration of country risk in the way a company is evaluated, the credit ratings agency said yesterday. The changes will apply to all insurance lines except bond and mortgage. In a statement, S&P analysts said the “significant [...]
Car insurers set to face inquiry over charges May 31, 2012 THE car insurance industry is set to be investigated by the competition watchdog after it used the cost of repairs and replacement vehicles to jack up premiums by £225m a year. Insurers compete in a “dysfunctional” manner, said the Office of Fair Trading, as it referred the sector to the Competition Commission. The OFT said [...]
Former Lloyds director to head Bank of Ireland June 20, 2012 BANK of Ireland announced yesterday that former Lloyds Banking Group executive Archie Kane is to be its next governor. Kane retired from Lloyds last year after holding the position of group executive director for insurance and Scotland. “Bank of Ireland has made a lot of progress in raising capital whilst remaining in private ownership,” he [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 13, 2012 Kleinwort Benson Clive Wright has been appointed head of private wealth management offshore at the private bank. He will report to Stephen Rothwell, head of private wealth management. Wright joined in January 2012 from Deutsche Bank, where he was head of its private wealth management division. Credit Agricole Xavier Musca has been appointed executive vice [...]
Greece frozen out as insurers cut cover for exporting to Athens May 30, 2012 TWO of the world’s biggest trade insurers, Euler Hermes and Coface, have suspended cover for exporters shipping to Greece amid fears the debt-laden nation could be forced out of the euro, hindering Greek importers’ ability to pay their bills. “Euler Hermes has decided no longer to cover deliveries to Greece for the foreseeable future,” a Euler [...]
New Eurozone credit crunch as coming recession hits lending July 1, 2012 THE FAILURE of short-term quick fixes to rescue the Eurozone’s broken banks means lending levels will be slashed and balance sheets will shrink at a faster rate even than in the financial crisis, a report from Ernst and Young warns today. The looming recession means non-performing loans will mount to record highs in 2013, while [...]