FTSE inches upwards as US figures propel commodities February 23, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday as investors welcomed robust corporate earnings newsflow, with Royal Bank of Scotland spearheading an advance in banking stocks after the lender unveiled in-line full-year results. The UK benchmark closed up 21.34 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,937.89. RBS, up 5.1 per cent, was the second-top blue-chip riser, recovering after [...]
Virgin picks former RBS executives January 9, 2012 VIRGIN Money has unveiled the full executive team that will be charged with embarking upon its “quest for better banking” for the high street – with a strong showing for staff formerly employed by bailed-out behemoth Royal Bank of Scotland. The full lineup includes four senior managers who used to work at RBS, including chief [...]
Doughty in €355m Spain deal February 9, 2012 BUYOUT group Doughty Hanson has bolstered its presence in the private healthcare market by agreeing to buy Spain’s third largest private hospital operator for €355m (£298m). It will take USP Hospitales, a Madrid-based hospital chain, off the hands of creditors Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The firm’s bid represents a nine times multiple [...]
Goodwin stripped of knighthood January 31, 2012 FRED Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood last night, three years after Royal Bank of Scotland was saved from collapse by a £45bn taxpayer bailout. The former chief executive, who was knighted for “services to banking” in 2004, lost the title after a committee of civil servants decided he had brought the honours system into [...]
Goodwin stripped of knighthood January 31, 2012 FRED Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood last night, three years after Royal Bank of Scotland was saved from collapse by a £45bn taxpayer bailout. The former chief executive, who was knighted for “services to banking” in 2004, lost the title after a committee of civil servants decided he had brought the honours system into [...]
RBS chief waives £1m bonus payout January 29, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester has bowed to growing political pressure and agreed to waive his bonus. Hester decided to forego the award of 3.6m shares, worth around £960,000, after the Labour party said it would force a House of Commons vote on the issue in a bid to make the government [...]
RBS to sell Middle East M&A business January 16, 2012 Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland is in talks to sell its mergers and acquisitions business in the Middle East and cut some jobs as part of a global restructuring at the UK bank, its regional head said on Monday. Simon Penney, RBS’ chief executive for Middle East and Africa, told Reuters the bank would focus [...]
FTSE down as investors look again at weak Eurozone data February 22, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading share index edged lower yesterday as investors refocused on fundamentals, specifically weaker-than-expected Eurozone data, with the Greek debt restructuring theatricals out of the way for now. Recession concerns increased after data showed the Eurozone’s service sector unexpectedly shrank in February, with Europe being Britain’s main market for its goods. “The FTSE ends the [...]
RBS retreats from global ambitions January 12, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland and Barclays both finalised new rounds of job cuts yesterday, with nearly 4,000 posts to go between the two lenders. RBS, which is 83 per cent state-owned, said it would cut 3,500 people from its investment bank through lay-offs or asset sales “in light of a changed market and regulatory environment”. [...]
FSA gets tough with £66m in fines last year January 2, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority (FSA) imposed over £66m in fines last year, including a retail fine for a whopping £10.5m imposed on HSBC for mis-selling investment bonds to elderly customers. The watchdog also showed its muscle by ordering large financial groups to pay more than £160m in compensation to customers – a huge rise from [...]