The Scottish nationalists aren’t credible on keeping sterling February 13, 2014 THE gloves are finally off. The London political establishment’s message to Scotland is clear: stay in the UK, or lose the pound. The nationalists are in deep trouble on this question, but as ever the argument is more complex than both sides might imagine. Is the Scottish National Party (SNP) right that it could keep [...]
Icap enters late stage talks to put Libor rigging claims to rest September 9, 2013 ICAP, the interdealer broker, is in late stage talks with US and UK regulators to settle longstanding claims over the Libor rigging scandal for about £70m. The broker, led by City grandee Michael Spencer, is understood to be nearing a deal with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to pay it £20m and US Department of [...]
Scots warned of business exodus February 27, 2014 TWO BUSINESS heavyweights have issued the starkest warning yet about the damage Scottish independence could do, claiming that it could push companies to leave the nation and start again in England to avoid financial uncertainty. The news will come as a devastating blow to Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who is using the value [...]
RBS sheds over three per cent on £38bn bad bank announcement and sliding profits November 1, 2013 The Royal Bank of Scotland was one of the FTSE's biggest faller this morning as it announced that it is to create an internal "bad bank" to manage £38bn of its riskiest assets by the end of this year, meaning it'll avoid addressing demands for a full split. (Release) The lender also posted a third [...]
Osborne’s claims that Scotland couldn’t use the pound don’t stack up February 13, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne is on the warpath this morning. He's knocking the idea of Scotland using the pound, without asking England's permission. Something that Adam Smith Institute research director Sam Bowman says the English government couldn't stop it doing. Pointing to other countries that do something similar – Panama with the dollar, and Montenegro with [...]
Great Portland issues £150m bond offering to boost spend September 3, 2013 GREAT Portland Estates yesterday announced plans to launch £150m of unsecured convertible bonds to help increase its firepower to fund developments. The west end property firm is currently building four schemes with another five due to kick-off in the next 24 months including the huge redevelopment of the Royal Mail’s old sorting office on Rathbone [...]
Scottish bank plans snubbed February 26, 2014 DEPUTY Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey became the latest in a line of critics to cast doubt on plans for Scottish independence yesterday. Speaking to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee yesterday as head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Bailey said the plans for regulation in an independent Scotland were not “operating in any other [...]
City Matters: The City and Scotland are natural allies in protecting our global competitiveness February 9, 2014 SCOTLAND’S future relationship with the rest of the UK has once again been making headlines, as we edge closer to the September independence referendum. For Londoners, the “Scottish question” can seem far removed. But having visited Edinburgh and Aberdeen last week, it is clear to me that this relationship is crucial to firms on both [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 May 2014 May 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Corrupt companies face higher fines British companies that bribe foreign officials to win contracts, commit fraud, or launder money, face fines of up to 400 per cent of their illicit profits, under new penalty guidelines. In the most serious cases companies will pay fines comparable with those meted out in the US, where [...]
Lean back and read the latest City tome on women at the top August 21, 2013 HOT ON the heels of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s highly publicised book Lean In, a London businesswoman is about to publish her own autobiographical and instructional tome – Heels of Steel. Founder of networking site We Are The City, Vanessa Vallely – a former employee of Barclays, Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of [...]