High hopes for 250 City Road as Berkeley unveils new tower at Tech City hub January 29, 2015 Anyone following the current spread of new developments cropping up around London could be forgiven for thinking the market on City Road is over-saturated. This long stretch off of Old Street roundabout has attracted a seriously impressive number of developers, which is partly a success story for Tech City (the government-backed initiative to create a [...]
City watchdog in investment banking probe: What will the FCA do and who’s involved? February 19, 2015 Big investment banks may be too dominant in some areas of the industry, limiting competition and hurting companies and consumers, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned yesterday. Prices are not always transparent enough to allow firms to compare banks effectively, the FCA said. The watchdog has received complaints that shares in major deals are allocated to [...]
City A.M. has raised millions for good causes over the years December 18, 2014 City A.M. is no stranger to philanthropy, and has achieved some impressive results through its charity appeals. For its first appeal, launched in 2011, it chose Opportunity International, a charity which provides microfinance loans for thousands of enterprising Africans who want to start their own business. City A.M.’s initial ambitious target was £250,000, but ultimately [...]
Eastern promise: Keys to investing in Asian markets February 17, 2015 Emerging Asia was one of the best performing regions in the five years leading up to the financial crisis, delivering a 20 per cent return per year in sterling terms. And despite the fact that, over the past two years, the region has underperformed developed markets, it remains a favourite place for UK investors to [...]
Forex rigging scandal: Record fines doled out to banks but Barclays refuses to play ball November 12, 2014 Five global banks were fined yesterday by UK and US regulators, in a record £2bn punishment for traders fiddling crucial foreign exchange benchmarks from 2008 to 2013. The fines were particularly stiff because some of the manipulation took place after attempts at Libor fiddling had already been exposed. Barclays stood out yesterday, having not yet [...]
Bonus cap row as HSBC profit rise disappoints February 24, 2014 HSBC’S shares tumbled yesterday as soaring profits fell short of investors’ high expectations. And the row over bank bonuses intensified as the lender confirmed it is paying staff new allowances in a bid to get around the EU’s bonus cap. The bonus pool increased 6.3 per cent to $13.9bn for the year, with 239 staff [...]
Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Link: Landmark day for Chinese stock market as tie-up launches November 17, 2014 City investors will be given better access to the world’s second largest equity market today when China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange launches a landmark tie-up with its Hong Kong counterpart. The Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Link, which launched in the early hours of this morning, will allow investors to buy Chinese stocks directly for the first time [...]
Aim withdrawal on the cards for Bank of America November 24, 2014 Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) looks set to withdraw its status as a nominated adviser (nomad) on Aim, reports revealed yesterday. BAML’s departure would leave only three remaining large “bulge bracket” banks advising Aim-listed companies. It would also leave oil and gas firm Bowleven without a nomad. A number of the big investment banks [...]
China’s services sector grows at the fastest rate since March last year September 3, 2014 After the latest manufacturing figures disappointed, HSBC reports China's services grew at the fastest rate in 17 months. According to figures from HSBC and Markit economics, the purchasing manager’s index posted at 54.1 – the fastest rate of growth since March 2013. With any reading above 50 constituting growth this is a strong [...]
EBA stress test results: UK banks respond October 27, 2014 It was a good day for UK banks yesterday as all of them passed the European Banking Authority (EBA) stress tests. The banks under scrutiny were Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC. The threshold for passing the test was a common equity tier one ratio of 5.5 per cent, a measure of the strength of their [...]