Inside Track: It’s about time the City’s watchdog got its act together December 4, 2013 WERE British banks engaged in a corrupt pact to bankrupt struggling business customers? The evidence from dossiers compiled by the businessmen Lawrence Tomlinson and Neil Mitchell is superficially shocking, although as yet inconclusive. Anecdotal evidence that Royal Bank of Scotland’s global restructuring group has nudged clients into administration when alternative outcomes were achievable have circulated [...]
Student housing group Unite taps the bond market for £90m October 3, 2013 STUDENT housing provider Unite yesterday followed in the steps of its property peers and launched a £90m bond offering to help fund future projects. The company, said the offering, together with £51.2m raised through a share placing in June, will help fund its regional development pipeline and replace short-term debt maturities. The unsecured convertible bonds, [...]
The big independence lie: Why Scotland could keep the pound | City A.M. March 11, 2014 TRUTH is usually the first casualty of political battles, as it is of war. I believe that Scotland and England are individually stronger for being part of the UK, but 25 years in currency markets tell me that the No campaign’s argument that Scotland cannot keep the pound is false. It would certainly be a [...]
Direct Line to sell closed life fund in £62m deal October 8, 2013 (Yahoo Finance) Britain's biggest car insurance company Direct Line has announced that it has agreed to sell the group's UK closed life insurance business, Direct Line Life Insurance (DLL), to Chesnara, an insurance-focused takeover specialist. (Release) Direct Line, whose brands include Churchill, Green Flag and Privilege, said today that total proceeds of the sale tally [...]
London Report: RBS and Lloyds news leads raft of bank updates October 27, 2013 BANKING and financial results will be in the spotlight this week as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered, Lloyds, Standard Life and Barclays all publish figures. RBS third quarter numbers, to be published on Friday, are the first since Ross McEwan took over from Stephen Hester as chief executive. They are expected to show [...]
London Report: FTSE weakens after insurers and banks fall November 5, 2013 THE UK’S top share index weakened yesterday, with insurer RSA sinking after a profit warning while banks also dropped sharply. RSA shed 6.3 per cent in brisk volume after saying that insured losses caused by recent severe weather in Europe and Canada were “materially above assumptions” and that full-year returns to shareholders were likely to [...]
Defence firms speak out on Scots split plan April 14, 2014 ADS GROUP, which represents the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space industries, yesterday became the latest organisation to speak out against Scottish independence. The trade body warned that if Scotland votes to break away from the UK at September’s referendum, the resulting uncertainty could have a damaging effect on investor confidence and export deals. “ADS [...]
Banks’ PPI crisis eases at last as complaints fall October 16, 2013 THE WORST of the payments protection insurance (PPI) crisis appears to be over for Britain’s banks as the City watchdog yesterday published numbers showing a fall in complaints. A total of 2.9m complaints were made in the first six months of 2013, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), down 500,000 on the previous six-month [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 27 November 2013 November 26, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS faces possible criminal probe The Serious Fraud Office is considering a criminal investigation into allegations Royal Bank of Scotland defrauded companies by forcing them out of business, amid growing pressure on the bank over its treatment of SMEs. The SFO has conducted interviews with former executives of UK firms affected by RBS’s [...]
Carney says Scottish banks might have to move south March 11, 2014 SCOTLAND’S biggest banks may have to be rehomed in England if the country votes for independence, after Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday it was unclear whether they could be run from Scottish head offices. During a quizzing by the MPs of the Treasury Select Committee, Carney admitted: “It is not clear in [...]