Long-suffering RBS’s troubles set to come to an end this year January 5, 2015 BAILED out bank RBS could be Britain’s best performing banking stock this year, as analysts at Bernstein Research believe its troubles are coming to an end. The lender was the worst hit giant bank in the financial crisis, and has since been pummelled by bad debts as well as fines and compensation payouts for bad [...]
Ipso under the lens: New independent press regulator gets off to rocky start February 24, 2015 Formed in the wake of the phone hacking scandal just four months ago, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) hasn’t had the most auspicious of starts. There have been fears over funding, and perceived similarities to the previous regulatory regime. Yesterday, its bosses appeared in front of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport [...]
City Moves for 16 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 15, 2015 GE Capital Isabel Fernandez has been named chief commercial officer of the financial services unit of General Electric. Fernandez has been with the firm since 2000. Prior to starting with GE Capital, she was vice president of Project Finance at ABN Ambro Bank. Mediobanca The Italian-based bank has appointed Felipe De Grado as managing director [...]
Spear‘s names top private bankers October 27, 2014 Last night saw the annual Spear’s Wealth Management Awards come to The Savoy and with them, The Spear’s 500. Among the top 10 wealth managers were HSBC Private Bank’s Charlie Hoffman, Close Brothers’ Penny Lovell and William Drake from Lord North Street. Charlie Hoffman HSBC Private Bank William Drake Lord North Street Penny Lovell Close [...]
The fast lane: Spencer Ogden co-founder David Spencer-Percival talks medevacs, detoxes, the youth of today and why banks get a hard time June 7, 2015 It is unlikely that David Spencer-Percival, co-founder of Spencer Ogden, will be reading this any time soon. On Saturday, he and his wife embarked on a caffeine, alcohol and tech detox in an Ibizan forest. “I feel frazzled. Our offices are end-to-end in terms of timezones, so I just never stop. You have to have [...]
HSBC’s former legal boss hired for Aquis board April 7, 2014 AQUIS Exchange, the trading platform set up by the former boss of Chi-X Europe, has beefed up its board by adding HSBC’s ex-legal chief Richard Bennett to its roster. Bennett, who was group general counsel of HSBC and spent 33 years at the bank, will join Aquis’s boardroom today as an independent non-executive director. The [...]
China GDP growth falls to its lowest since 1990 January 19, 2015 After years of double-figure growth, China's GDP growth fell to its slowest in 24 years in 2014, according to figures published overnight. Growth in the country fell to 7.4 per cent last year, its slowest pace since 1990, down from two consecutive years of 7.7 per cent growth. While it was the first time it's [...]
Atom Bank’s chief Mark Mullen on using the Post Office to launch challengers March 16, 2015 Digital banking sounds super-cool. You can manage your money entirely on a smartphone and, if you choose a new challenger, stick it to the big banks at the same time. There is one big problem – where do you pay in cash? Atom Bank’s boss thinks shared hubs like the Post Office could be the [...]
MPs are dangerously blurring the line between tax avoidance and evasion February 19, 2015 Never before has tax avoidance – legally arranging your affairs to lower your tax liability, as distinct from the illegal practice of tax evasion – been used as a political weapon in such a high profile way. In the last week, we’ve had it all: smears, claims and counter-claims, and Ed Balls, the man who [...]
Sainsbury’s hit by worst Xmas sales in 10 years January 7, 2015 SAINSBURY’S said yesterday that a surge in demand for its top-end food ranges and clothing helped the retailer beat Christmas forecasts, despite posting its first drop in festive sales in over a decade. Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, dropped by 1.7 per cent in the 14 weeks to 3 January, as total sales fell by 0.4 [...]