Busy lives and tight belts drive HomeServe growth May 24, 2011 HOMESERVE founder Richard Harpin (pictured) yesterday said penny wise homeowners keen to avoid costly disasters such as boiler breakdowns helped it grow last year. Revenues at HomeServe, which repairs and protects systems such as plumbing and heating, increased by 27 per cent to £467.1m in the year to March 2011 compared with 2010, as it [...]
Wells Fargo settles SEC charges April 5, 2011 A unit of Wells Fargo & Co settled civil charges yesterday alleging that Wachovia violated federal securities laws when it sold mortgage-backed securities to investors in the lead-up to the housing crisis. The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Wells Fargo Securities will pay $11m (£6.8m) in disgorgement and penalties to settle the administrative charges [...]
Banks bolster FTSE at the close May 25, 2011 London stocks struggled to gain ground today as poor economic data on both sides of the Atlantic dismayed investors. A rally led by banking stocks late in the afternoon helped push the FTSE back into the black, with the FTSE 100 just 0.2 per cent higher at 5,870.14 at the close. Miners made muted gains [...]
NEW REGULATION September 1, 2011 • Basel 2.5: The changes to banks’ capital regime introduced over 2009-2010 rejigged the methods that banks must use to calculate the value of their “risk-weighted assets” (RWA) – that is, their total assets adjusted for certain kinds of risk. This shifted banks from a Basel II regime to what the industry calls “Basel 2.5”. [...]
All Saints on the verge of buyout deal April 26, 2011 FASHION chain All Saints was on the verge of being sold to US private equity house Goode Partners last night, despite an audacious eleventh hour bid by British venture capital veteran Jon Moulton, the chief executive of the firm told City A.M. “I think the deal is imminent,” said Stephen Craig. “Goode will be a [...]
Savvy investors will soon be taking to water June 9, 2011 FORGET yachts, successful City boys and girls will be cruising to work on boats in the years to come. Marinas are springing up alongside London’s Thameside developments. Chelsea’s flashy 1,000-apartment Imperial Wharf has just opened a marina, while Vauxhall’s St. George Wharf is building a river taxi pontoon on its doorstep that will open in [...]
Trading like a robot: looking at spread betting algorithms June 12, 2011 WHEN spread betting, there is always the temptation to break your own rules. Traders often shift stop losses based on the gut feeling that they’re going to see a reversal and recoup their losses, or wait longer than planned before taking profit, wanting to make as much as they can, convinced that the movement still [...]
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR | The shortlist June 19, 2011 The past year has not been an easy one for the City of London, overshadowed as it has been by the austerity programme in the UK and the Eurozone crisis. But there will be much to be optimistic about and to celebrate at City A.M.’s second annual awards ceremony on 21 September. Our personality of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC EMBROILED IN INTERNSHIP ROW HSBC has been accused of nepotism after its legal department implied it offered work experience only to the sons and daughters of its own executives. Richard Bennett, group general counsel, sent a letter rejecting a young woman who had sought unpaid work in his department. “HSBC does not [...]
THRILLER AT THE COTTAGE March 16, 2011 FULHAM have announced plans to unveil a statue of deceased pop icon Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage next month, on 3 April. Cottagers chairman Mohamed Al Fayed, a friend of the superstar, had planned to house the memorial, which may look like the one above, in Harrods but has switched venues having sold the store [...]