Shoreditch summer: This Hoxton treehouse is the perfect office space for the sunny weather June 11, 2015 Now summer's here (for one day at least) there's nothing worse than being cooped up inside while the sun streams across the City. Being confined to a cubicle's not much good for productivity, either. So now the creative folk up in Hoxton have created a new kind of office where you can get your work done [...]
Barclays boss John McFarlane looks to cut costs despite profit rise in bid to streamline bank July 30, 2015 Barclays, Britain’s largest bank after HSBC, yesterday delivered £3.1bn of pre-tax profits for the first half of this year, boosted by a 36 per cent rise in the performance of its investment banking arm, which chipped in almost half the total. The investment bank made £1.44bn pre-tax profit. John McFarlane, who joined the bank as [...]
First Libor case with ex-UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes comes to trial at Southwark Crown Court today May 26, 2015 The first criminal trial over allegations of conspiracy to rig the Libor benchmark interest rate will start in London court today. Tom Hayes, a former trader at banks UBS and Citigroup, will appear at Southwark crown court charged with eight counts of conspiring to rig the Libor rate. Hayes previously pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy [...]
HSBC UK director Alan Thomson resigns over banking regulation threat as second exec ‘mulls exit’ October 7, 2014 One of HSBC's UK directors has resigned from his position ahead of new rules that strengthen the hand of regulators to penalised managers of failed banks. City A.M. understands Alan Thomson, a member of the audit and risk committees of HSBC Bank, has tendered his resignation and will leave the board in October. Sky News initially [...]
Bluefield Partners plans solar fund IPO to raise £142m July 13, 2015 Bluefield Partners yesterday said it is planning to float a second solar energy fund on the London Stock Exchange, which it hopes will raise at least €200m (£142m). Unlike its first listed fund, which invests in UK solar energy assets, the Bluefield European Solar Fund will look for opportunities in Eurozone countries – excluding [...]
US banks’ bonuses outstrip UK as Goldman Sachs tops payout league May 27, 2015 GOLDMAN Sachs’s directors received the biggest bonuses in the sector this year, according to figures published yesterday by Emolument.com. The iconic US investment bank paid an average of £194,000, well above second-ranked Morgan Stanley’s £170,000 average. All of the top five payers are US banks, followed by European banks Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, at £135,000 [...]
New Zealand dollar: Rock star no longer – CNBC Comment July 20, 2015 It’s that time of the year again – the excitement of the Ashes is palpable. There are a lot of cricket fans in my office and, although I can’t count myself as one of them, a crash course has taught me that the Antipodean teams often win. Indeed, Sunday marked a crushing defeat for England [...]
How to get into the finance sector: The six university degree subjects most likely to land you a job in a London bank April 8, 2015 It's that time of year again – A-Levels are coming up, and students everywhere are trying to work out what to next. Aspiring bankers could do worse than to read up on new research by salary benchmarking site Emolument.com, which has identified the six most common degrees held by London bankers. At the top – [...]
BBC Trust candidate Fairhead quizzed over HSBC money laundering scandal September 9, 2014 Rona Fairhead, the preferred candidate for chairmanship of the BBC Trust, faced a grilling by MPs this morning, including questions over her role during the HSBC Mexico money laundering scandal and her Pearson pay off. Fairhead was the chair of HSBC's risk committee at the time of the case, which resulted in the bank [...]
Carney brushes off fears of London bank exodus July 1, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney yesterday played down the risk of large banks leaving the UK due to harsh regulatory rules. Moving headquarters abroad will not allow banks to swerve new measures, Carney insisted while revealing the Bank’s latest Financial Stability Report. “If you’re a global bank, a global institution, it’s not like you can [...]