UK banking’s falling competitiveness should worry the whole of the country May 14, 2015 Contrary to most expectations, we have a government. And although David Cameron might have felt he had it difficult in his first term as Prime Minister – dealing with a huge budget deficit while in coalition – this term also has its challenges. His majority is slim, there is the far from little matter of [...]
Bonuses down despite strong year for Britain’s biggest banks February 19, 2015 Payouts for top bankers have taken a tumble so far this year, according to industry data seen by City A.M., as the bonus cap combined with investor and political pressure takes its toll. Preliminary data from pay benchmarking site Emolument.com shows bonuses for front office staff falling precipitously this year compared with last year’s pay [...]
Volution taps banks for £90m in refinancing February 16, 2015 VOLUTION Group, a British supplier of ventilation products to the residential construction market, yesterday signed a new and enlarged £90m multicurrency revolving credit facility. The Crawley-based company – which once supplied air ducts to 10 Downing Street when Winston Churchill was an inhabitant in World War II – signed the agreement with HSBC, Royal Bank of [...]
MPs line up to chair Parliament’s select committees: The races to watch June 11, 2015 Nominations for the chair of each of Parliament's select committees closed last night, with MPs lining up to take control of some of the most influential boards. A secret ballot, where each MP has one vote for each committee, will take place on 17 June, City A.M. has examined each of the declared candidates for six [...]
Martin Kaymer flops, rookie profits January 18, 2015 WORLD No357 Gary Stal landed his maiden European Tour title after US Open champion Martin Kaymer suffered a spectacular collapse at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship yesterday. Kaymer led by 10 during the final round but carded a double-bogey and triple-bogey to allow Frenchman Stal, 22, to overtake him with a superb 65 that [...]
HSBC among big banks facing EU fixing charges May 20, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Commission levelled charges of market manipulation against three banks yesterday, alleging that the groups acted to rig a major inter-bank lending rate. HSBC, JP Morgan and Credit Agricole were named by the Commission, which said in a statement it believes that the banks were involved in fixing Euribor. The institutions held out last [...]
Oil price slides further as China manufacturing contracts December 31, 2014 China's manufacturing sector contracted for the first time during December, new figures published this morning showed. HSBC/Markit's China manufacturing PMI fell to 49.6, below the 50-mark which indicates a fall, and down from 50 in November. However, the figure was revised up from an initial "flash" reading earlier in the month, which was 49.5. Last [...]
CivilisedBank: There’s another new challenger bank on the scene with imminent UK launch plans March 8, 2015 Another challenger bank has joined the scene alongside a growing number of upstarts trying to unseat the dominant high street banking institutions in the UK. CivilisedBank, a new online-only bank aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, is the latest to reveal its plans and expects to open its doors – albeit virtual ones – later [...]
General Election 2015: David Cameron’s approval rating at its highest for four years – poll February 15, 2015 He who laughs last in May will laugh the loudest, but David Cameron may allow himself a wry chuckle today after the results of a new poll put his personal rating at 41per cent, 18 points higher than that of Ed Miliband. According to the Opinium poll for the Observer, Cameron’s rating is the highest [...]
The cost of charismatic leadership: Strong personalities can be distracing April 27, 2015 Companies are better off relying on old-fashioned expertise and openness to feedback. General Electric’s former chief executive Jack Welch is often posited as the archetype of the successful “charismatic” business leader. He rose to fame for setting big goals and communicating them with confidence, and his influence on business more generally has been substantial. [...]