Forex probe costs hurt Barclays results as bank reports loss of £174 March 3, 2015 Mounting forex probe costs and an extra PPI compensation bill helped to push Barclays into the red in 2014, as the bank yesterday said its restructuring programme is ahead of schedule. Barclays reported an attributable loss of £174m for the year, compared with a £530m profit in 2013. Much of the damage came from [...]
Belgian unions strike over pension reforms December 15, 2014 Belgian unions grounded all flights, halted all trains and closed hundreds of factories and offices in a nationwide strike yesterday in protest over the government’s planned pension reforms and budget cuts. In Brussels, police held back striking workers who rioted outside the offices of Flemish separatist party N-VA, one of the four parties in the [...]
More small firms use alternative finance as loan approvals grow November 26, 2014 SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are relying more on alternative sources of finance, despite more applications for loans and overdrafts being successful. The figures released today by market research firm BDRC Continental show that the proportion of SMEs using alternative financing such as trade credit – a delay between the receiving goods and paying for [...]
Pensioners get help to find best annuity deals December 11, 2014 PENSIONERS are failing to shop around for the best annuities deal and so are missing out on income in their retirement, the City watchdog found in a report published yesterday. Annuities themselves could offer good value to consumers, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said, as long as they sought out a good deal. To rectify this [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
Political risk is rising globally – with worrying consequences for markets April 1, 2015 Uncertainty about global and domestic politics is greater today than it has been for some years. It is therefore inevitable that political risk will play a more prominent role in capital market investment decisions than it has done for many years. Political risk is not a new phenomenon in markets. As early as 1294, the [...]
Canadian pension fund Ivanhoe Cambridge buys Deloitte’s London HQ Stonecutter Court for £112m December 8, 2014 Canada's second-largest pension fund has bought Deloitte’s City offices from Hines Global Reit for £112m as it looks to step up its exposure to the London office property market. Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canada’s Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, said yesterday it has bought Stonecutter Court near Holborn. [...]
City Moves for 08 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 7, 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate James Max has been appointed UK board adviser to the property advisory firm. He joined in January 2014 as a senior advisory director. Max is a media personality and has also held roles at DTZ, Morgan Stanley, and Doughty Hanson. Addleshaw Goddard The law firm has announced the appointment of Katie [...]
Forget trickle-down: In a free market, the rich don’t gain at the poor’s expense January 12, 2015 A lie, repeated often, becomes the truth in the public mind. That’s why, when a Fox News commentator suggests that Birmingham is a “Muslim-only city”, we feel it important to set the record straight. Sadly, many lies and myths pervade public discussion of economics. No matter how often they are debunked, they return. Attempts to [...]
Julian Assange’s nuggets of gold: What you can say about the world in 1,500 days January 14, 2015 It's amazing how many of the world's problems you can solve from inside the Ecuadorian embassy. Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder and one of world's favourite critics of everything, has not let a major world event pass him by without a profound piece of commentary slipping from his lips. Since he arrived at the [...]