CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 14, 2012 Grant Thornton The professional services firm has appointed Andy Morgan as a partner in its London corporate finance team. Morgan is a technology expert and has over 17 years’ experience in mid-market mergers and acquisitions. He joins from PwC, where he led its UK technology, media and communications sector team. Mazars John McMahon has been [...]
Why private bondholders need to share in Spain’s banking pain June 11, 2012 IT’S under control. That seemed to be Mariano Rajoy’s message as he left for Poland to watch Spain take on Italy, hours after finalising a €100bn euro rescue deal for the country’s banks. The Spanish Prime Minister and EU finance ministers can certainly be pleased at achieving such a quick deal, but they should not [...]
Lloyds gets the most complaints February 29, 2012 PART-NATIONALISED bank Lloyds received the most complaints among UK financial firms in the second-half of last year, data from the Financial Ombudsman showed yesterday. The Ombudsman said the various operations within Lloyds Banking Group – including the likes of Bank of Scotland and Halifax – got 20,310 complaints from July to December last year. Barclays [...]
Supplier saves 4,500 jobs at Clinton Cards June 7, 2012 THE REMAINS of the high street chain Clinton Cards were bought out of administration yesterday by an American cards company, in a deal expected to safeguard 4,500 jobs. Administrator Zolfo Cooper confirmed yesterday that American Greetings, one of Clinton’s biggest suppliers, had paid $37m (£24m) to buy the ailing retailer’s brand and assets including 397 [...]
Mobile banking firm Monitise buys US rival for £108m March 26, 2012 UK mobile banking technology firm Monitise has agreed to buy privately held US rival Clairmail for $173m (£108m), expanding its reach on the key North American market. In the UK the firm currently provides mobile banking applications for customers of Natwest, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. After the deal Monitise will reach [...]
Panmure poaches Seymour Pierce’s Wale as new chief April 18, 2012 Panmure Gordon, one of several niche investment banks operating in the City of London finance district, has poached Phillip Wale from rival Seymour Pierce to be its new chief executive. Panmure said on Wednesday Wale would take up his new role this summer, with current CEO Tim Linacre becoming chairman of its investment banking arm. [...]
Premier Foods secures lifeline March 12, 2012 Premier Foods, the company behind brands including Hovis and Mr Kipling, was thrown a lifeline by its banks yesterday after it was given more time to repay its £1.2bn of loans. The refinancing deal with its banks including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland will see Premier’s repayment deadline extended from December 2013 to June [...]
One Savings Bank plans to double revenues April 20, 2012 One Savings Bank, a new British lender backed by US private equity firm JC Flowers, aims to double its assets to £4.5bn and could make acquisitions to boost lending to small businesses. The company was created in February 2011 after JC Flowers injected fresh capital into the mutually owned Kent Reliance Building Society, a casualty [...]
One Savings Bank plans to double revenues April 20, 2012 One Savings Bank, a new British lender backed by US private equity firm JC Flowers, aims to double its assets to £4.5bn and could make acquisitions to boost lending to small businesses. The company was created in February 2011 after JC Flowers injected fresh capital into the mutually owned Kent Reliance Building Society, a casualty [...]
Santander to close 56 branches March 26, 2012 Spain’s Santander is closing 56 branches in Britain to remove overlap in its network after it bolted together three separate businesses, which left it with two branches side by side in some places. Santander’s purchase of Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley during the 2008 financial crisis came four years after it bought Abbey [...]