CITY MOVES| WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 1, 2010 HSBC HSBC?has announced the appointment of Hossam Alsaady as head of its Saudi Arabia team within the London-based Middle East and North Africa division of its private banking business. Alsaady is moving over from his role at NCB Capital in Jeddah, where he has held several senior positions, most recently head of strategy. At HSBC, [...]
Asset managers still not ready for EU directive November 2, 2010 THE UK’s asset management industry is still not ready for the introduction of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) a poll from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed yesterday. The poll suggests only two per cent of asset managers have a plan in place for responding to the AIFMD despite 41 per cent of them believing management [...]
Rok calls in administrator November 8, 2010 SOCIAL housing company Rok stunned investors yesterday by filing for administration less than two months after management declared its confidence in the business. The Essex-based firm, which employs 3,800 people, released a terse statement to the stock market yesterday and PricewaterhouseCooper were later appointed as administrator. The firm issued a profit warning in August, but [...]
KPMG and PwC consider move into credit rating May 16, 2010 ACCOUNTANTS KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have considered entering the credit rating business as the established players come under fire for failing to pre-empt the financial crisis. In the aftermath of the recession, which saw high-profile companies such as retail investor Baugur go bankrupt, KPMG said auditors should provide forward-looking assessments of a business’ risks as well [...]
Legal sector preparing for mergers November 3, 2010 THE City’s law firms are ripe for a new round of mergers as falling fee income and the economic environment propels the industry towards a “tipping point”, says a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Of the Top 11-25 firms, 83 per cent predicted more mergers in the industry are “fairly likely’, compared to half of those [...]
Aim needs UK companies to aid recovery October 17, 2010 THE ALTERNATIVE Investment Market (Aim) is showing signs of a revival, but the junior market needs to attract more UK-based firms to support this return to growth, according to research out today. The market has raised £2.8bn in the first eight months of 2010, said business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a report released today, [...]
Aim needs UK companies to aid recovery October 17, 2010 THE ALTERNATIVE Investment Market (Aim) is showing signs of a revival, but the junior market needs to attract more UK-based firms to support this return to growth, according to research out today. The market has raised £2.8bn in the first eight months of 2010, said business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a report released today, [...]
BORIS FUND BREAKFAST CLUB MEETS AT SAVOY December 7, 2010 LONDON mayor Boris Johnson played host to a star-studded launch for the corporate sponsors of the charitable Mayor’s Fund for London yesterday morning, with grandees of the City treated to an 8am poached egg and salmon breakfast in return for their paid-up membership of the London Business Club – an organisation for fund donors. The [...]
Green stealth tax bombshell stuns business October 21, 2010 BUSINESS leaders were left stunned by what they called a green “stealth tax” following news by the government on Wednesday that it would keep the revenue raised from the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) rather than recycle cash raised back into scheme. Richard Lambert, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), attacked the proposals saying: [...]
Retail insolvency rates fall to pre-2007 levels October 10, 2010 RETAIL insolvencies fell to pre-recession levels this quarter, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Just 360 firms went bust in the third quarter, a drop of 11 per cent from the second and a massive 26 per cent reduction on last year. PwC believes the improvement will be continued as most of the weaker firms [...]