IMF pulls out of Saudi investor summit as more details of journalist’s disappearance emerge October 17, 2018 International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde has become the latest global figure to withdraw from a high-profile Saudi investor conference next week following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The chief executive of French bank Societe Generale, Frederic Oudea, also dropped out on Wednesday. But SoftBank, whose $93bn Vision Fund was half-funded by Saudi [...]
Davos 2020 live: Carrie Lam ‘disappointed’ by rating downgrade January 21, 2020 Please manually refresh this page for our latest Davos 2020 updates. The World Economic Forum at Davos is focusing on sustainability this year. US President Donald Trump is set to make a special address, despite his impeachment beginning in the Senate. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg hosts a panel session. Read more: What is Davos 2020? [...]
Patisserie Valerie keeps shareholders in the dark on future as last ditch talks with banks continue January 21, 2019 Patisserie Valerie’s holding company has failed to shed further light on the future of the troubled bakery chain after announcing this morning talks were still ongoing with its creditors to save the company. The firm was expected to provide an update this morning, after speculation the last week of talks with its banks could spell [...]
Kier leads the FTSE’s morning fallers after investors shun call for cash December 20, 2018 Shares in outsourcing group Kier fell by almost 15 per cent as markets opened this morning, after the firm revealed that investors only bought 38 per cent of the new shares it had issued as part of a fundraising effort. Kier announced last month that it would turn to the market in a heavily-discounted share [...]
UK dividends hit record-breaking high in 2018 January 21, 2019 UK dividend payments rose to a record £99.8bn last year driven by rising profits and better than expected special dividends. British American Tobacco accounted for almost one fifth of the increase in UK dividends as it paid out an additional £900m over the course of 2018, entering the UK top five for the first time, according [...]
Investment management firm Pimco hires ex-Blackstone vice chair John Studzinski September 5, 2018 US investment management firm Pimco has hired top deal maker John Studzinski to advise the company's most important clients. Former Blackstone vice-chairman Studzinski will be based in New York as managing director and vice chairman, reporting to chief executive Emmanuel Roman. Read more: Man Group poaches Sanlam Four's strategic bond fund and team Before joining Californian-headquartered Pimco, which was founded by [...]
Standard Chartered opposes animal testing as it tightens environmental policies October 25, 2018 Standard Chartered will no longer finance clients who test cosmetic products on animals, it said today as it announced a raft of tightened environmental and social policies. The emerging markets-focused bank will also avoid financing plantation or livestock ranches that degrade High Carbon Stock forests, peatlands or legally protected areas, or operations that grow, process [...]
Brands, don’t let your employees’ bad social media posts harm your reputation March 27, 2019 One of the many lessons of 2018 was how easily a worker’s social media activity can damage a brand’s reputation. I don’t just mean the deliberate attacks made by angry ex-employees, but the accidental disasters caused by well-meaning contributions to the marketing effort. HSBC experienced this in October, when Business Insider published a piece about [...]
Metro Bank tops customer service survey as challenger bank grows in popularity February 15, 2019 Metro Bank has topped an industry-wide customer service survey despite battling an accounting error, which has hit shares in recent weeks. The challenger bank knocked First Direct off the top spot in a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) survey based on whether customers at the UK’s 16 largest current account providers would recommend their bank to friends [...]
FTSE 100 ends its worst year since the financial crash in the red December 31, 2018 The UK's FTSE 100 blue-chip index ended its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis in the red, as a strong pound pulled down exporter shares. The FTSE 100 lost 0.1 per cent in trading on the last day of 2018, while the FTSE 250 added 0.2 per cent after a rally on Friday when they both closed [...]