Mayfair property tycoon found guilty of massive loans fraud January 16, 2013 TWO men who posed as wealthy Mayfair property buyers to secure almost £800m in loans have been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, in a long-awaited successful prosecution for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Achilleas Michaelis Kallakis and his associate Alexander Martin Williams used fake guarantees claiming to be from Hong Kong property firm SHKP [...]
UK leads pack in New Year dealmaking January 20, 2013 THE UK private equity industry has helped lead a flurry of European dealmaking activity in the first two weeks of the year, with close to 85 per cent of deals inked involving UK outfits, data shows. Of the £1.73bn worth of top deals inked across Europe between 2 January and 16 January, £1.46bn have involved [...]
Ex HBOS head for state bank role December 18, 2012 Sir Peter Burt, the former chief executive of Bank of Scotland, has been appointed to advise the government on setting up its new state-run business bank. Sir Peter will chair a board advising Vince Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on choices such as what sectors to invest in. The business bank, which is [...]
Barclays leads FTSE to top day of month so far February 12, 2013 ASURGE in Barclays’ shares led the FTSE 100 past the psychologically important 6,300 level yesterday, as the blue chip bank’s planned overhaul raised hopes for the troubled sector’s revival. Barclays gained 8.4 per cent, leading FTSE 100 gainers and adding over 12 points to the index alone, after unveiling plans to slash annual costs by [...]
More bidders enter RBS sell-off December 6, 2012 Two private equity giants are to team up and enter the race for 316 Royal Bank of Scotland branches, it emerged last night. JC Flowers and Apollo Global Management, two of the biggest buyout houses in the world, are understood to be on the cusp of launching a joint venture to bid for the branches, [...]
Plans to force firms to switch auditors don’t go far enough February 21, 2013 BANKS, ratings agencies, now auditors: the firing line of financial sub-industries being dragged kicking and screaming into a post-crisis world continues to lengthen. As soon as tomorrow, the Competition Commission will pave the way for an overhaul of the Big Four accountants with a proposal to enforce mandatory rotation of their major audit clients at [...]
City Moves for 17 July 2013| Who’s switching jobs July 16, 2013 HSBC The bank has announced the appointment of Alison McGregor as chief executive for Scotland. McGregor joined HSBC in March as a director of corporate banking. She has previously held senior roles at Clydesdale Bank and Barclays. BNY Mellon The investment company has recruited Anil Dala as market manager for treasury services in Europe, the Middle East [...]
FTSE 100 up as Chinese growth recovers January 18, 2013 The FTSE 100 was firmly up in early deals this morning, as it was lifted by headline natural resources shares on the back of a rebound in Chinese growth. The Chinese economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, coming in above expectations and marking an uptick from the 7.4 per cent recorded [...]
RBS to close Indian business November 30, 2012 Royal Bank of Scotland’s sale of its Indian retail and commercial banking operations to HSBC has fallen through, and it will now wind down the business, it announced today. RBS agreed to sell the business to HSBC in July 2010, but the deal lapsed on Friday. It has 31 branches and 400,000 customers, with assets [...]
FTSE rally tops fresh peaks yet UK banks slip January 29, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index hit new four and a half year peaks yesterday, with a strong rally in miners outweighing concerns about continuing problems in the banking sector. Data from the US offered fresh proof of improvement in the world’s biggest economy, with a strong pick-up in housing prices following above-forecast durable goods data the [...]