Retail M&A slowdown as private equity backs away from high street January 30, 2017 The value of UK retail mergers sunk to a three-year low in 2016, with just 36 mergers agreed – down from 47 in 2015 according to law firm RPC. The new figures released today suggest that total deal values have also slumped from £20.7bn down to just £4.7bn, a decline which outpaced a post-Brexit slowdown [...]
Financial Conduct Authority fines to increase in 2017 as new rules take effect January 23, 2017 Unusually low level of fines handed down by City watchdogs in 2016 will not be repeated this year, with new rules and a broadening of remits likely to mean more penalties are on the cards in 2017. Fines issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fell by 97 per cent in 2016 compared with the year [...]
FCA fines plummet in 2016: Epidemic problems in wind down, say experts December 23, 2016 Fines levied by the UK's financial watchdog have fallen to their lowest level in nine years. The amount imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fell by 97 per cent during 2016 – just £22m of penalties have been dished out, compared with £905m in the previous year. And according to City law firm [...]
The Serious Fraud Office’s Barclays probe: Everything you need to know June 21, 2017 What happened in 2008? In the summer of 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, Barclays needed emergency funding. The bank raised £4.5bn in June that year and £7.3bn in October from investors including Qatar Holding and Challenger Universal. Why was this investigated? Over the last five years, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) [...]
Shareholder group hits outs at Sports Direct’s “disappointing” failure to conduct an independent governance review January 16, 2017 Sports Direct is under fire for its failure to find an independent organisation to conduct a review of its corporate governance. The retailer has been pressed by shareholders to shake-up its corporate governance after a string of profit warnings and a parliamentary inquiry that concluded its Shirebrook warehouse was run like a "Victorian workhouse". Read [...]
City Moves for 12 December 2016 | Who’s switching jobs December 12, 2016 Aldermore Aldermore has appointed Roger Evans as its new head of intermediary distribution. Roger will be responsible for relationships with all residential intermediaries and will represent Aldermore across the wider lending market. He will be responsible for developing and leading both the field and telephone intermediary sales forces. Roger joins Aldermore having led a successful career with [...]
Don’t be fooled by the Tesco Bank hack – Hackers are more likely to go after firms outside of financial services November 9, 2016 Despite the recent high profile hack on Tesco Bank, cyber criminals are increasingly unlikely to target financial services firms. The Tesco Bank attack – branded unprecedented by top regulators – runs against the trend for hackers to focus on non-banks with lower levels of cyber security, City law firm RPC has warned. According the law firm data [...]
Craft and artisan beer craze lifts the number of new beer trademarks registered to record high October 17, 2016 The soaring popularity of artisan drinks pushed the number of new registered beer trademarks to hit a record high last year, according to City law firm RPC. The number of new beer brands registered in the UK jumped 12 per cent from 1,485 to 1,666 in 2015, an RPC analysis of figures from the government’s Intellectual [...]
City Moves for 1 February 2017 – who’s switching jobs? February 1, 2017 Today's City Moves cover insurance, real estate law and a national tax and auditing outfit. Take a look at these movers and shakers: PWC Paul Delbridge has taken on the role of London market insurance leader at PWC. Paul is a partner with 30 years’ experience at the firm, including three years in New York, [...]
Sports Direct may sell famous brands in bid to become more upmarket January 8, 2017 Sports Direct is looking into selling several of its brands as part of its bid to become the “Selfridges of Sports”. Founder Mike Ashley’s mission to turn the company’s standing around and to make Sports Direct more upmarket has reportedly progressed to ditching brands no longer deemed relevant to the UK market. According to sources, [...]