Copper touches highest levels since 2012 as metals rally continues February 16, 2021 Copper prices hit their highest levels in nearly a decade today as Chinese demand and the global economic recovery extended the red metal’s rally. For the third session in a row London Metal Exchange copper hit fresh multi-year peaks, having rallied by 93 per cent since last March. LME copper pushed up 0.3 per cent to $8,416.50 [...]
UK financial services sector contributed record £76bn in tax last year February 12, 2021 The UK’s financial services sector paid a record £75.6bn in tax last year, according to a new report. The sector’s contribution in the fiscal year ended March 2020 included £34.1bn in taxes borne directly by firms and an additional £41.5bn from employees and customers, according to a recent report by the City of London Corporation. [...]
WPP buys Brazilian software engineering firm DTI Digital February 10, 2021 Creative transformation company WPP has acquired DTI Digital, a leading digital innovation and software engineering firm. DTI’s digital services help clients become more connected to their customers, through the development of support systems such as data collection software. The Brazilian company scales up its expert development teams in response to client needs, comprising more than [...]
The City and Zurich can set a positive tone for free market competition February 10, 2021 The decision that trading firms, regardless of where they are situated, will be able to trade Swiss shares on UK exchanges should not just be seen as a political football, On the contrary, this agreement should be a symbol of a return to a more competitive market. Whilst rules such as MiFID II have sought [...]
Lloyd’s lures Aviva’s MD for new chief of markets role January 22, 2021 Lloyd’s said this morning it has created a new chief of markets role which will oversee performance and distribution at the insurance giant. Patrick Tiernan has been hired for the position once he has seen out his current stint as managing director at Aviva, where he was previously chief financial officer. Tiernan has 24 years [...]
‘Haves’ and ‘have nots’ disparity risks geopolitical instability, warns WEF January 19, 2021 The economic and digital disparities of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ risks widening social cohesion, and could lead to geopolitical instability, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned. The Covid-19 pandemic has widened long-standing health, economic and digital disparities between individuals, according to the latest WEF global risk report, which could hinder global cooperation [...]
Zurich offers staff 10-day ‘lockdown leave’ for frazzled parents January 6, 2021 Zurich is offering full time staff 10 extra days of paid leave for parents who face childcare emergencies in the wake of England’s third national lockdown. More than one in five of Zurich’s 4,500 UK employees with children will benefit from the extra time off, which can be taken in consecutive days or one at [...]
Parlez-vous Français? Paris’ finance sector gets ready to seize post-Brexit opportunities December 15, 2020 Paris’ claims to be Europe’s culture and culinary capital are well known, however its finance credentials are somewhat less established. The City of Light ranked behind London, Zurich, Luxembourg, Geneva, Frankfurt and even Edinburgh in the World Bank’s Global Financial Centres Index for 2020. However, with Brexit around the corner, and no full EU equivalence [...]
Zurich and Farmers to buy Metlife property and casualty for $3.9bn December 11, 2020 Zurich Insurance’s subsidiary Farmers Group has agreed to team up with Farmers Exchanges to buy Metlife’s US property and casualty business for $3.94bn (£2.96bn). Zurich will contribute $2.43bn through FGI, while Farmers Exchanges will chip in $1.51bn, Zurich said. “The acquisition significantly increases the potential for growth at the Farmers Exchanges and will further boost [...]
World Economic Forum to be held in Singapore in May December 7, 2020 From Davos ski fields to Singapore: World Economic Forum now heads to Southeast Asian city-state