London ends lower as all eyes turn to payroll data in the US September 3, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed lower yesterday, weighed down by energy stocks, though with a rally from miners limited losses ahead of today’s key US non-farm payroll figures. The index closed the session down 20.80 points, or 0.4 percent, at 4,796.75, having traded lower on the first two days of September. But the recent powerful rally, [...]
FSA’s Sants: Not my job to set bonuses August 9, 2009 HECTOR Sants, head of watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will this week refuse to bow to pressure to bring in rules to cap City bonuses.Sants has said it is not the regulator’s job to set company pay levels, only to ensure pay does not encourage risk in the financial system. In the FSA’s guidelines [...]
GOODWIN DREAMS OF COMEBACK ROLE August 10, 2009 SIR Fred Goodwin will start his hunt for a new business role when he returns to his £3m Edinburgh home later this month, City A.M. can reveal. The disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive is looking at re-entering the charity sector, after his six-year tenure as chairman of the Prince’s Trust came to [...]
RBS merges Asia-Pacific teams July 14, 2009 Royal Bank of Scotland is to combine its Asia-Pacific investment banking teams ahead of a likely sale of its Asian operations to Australia’s ANZ, Standard Chartered or HSBC. The bank will merge its advisory, wholesale banking and risk management operations in a move it said would help it better serve clients in the region. The [...]
RBS pay restrictions lead to loss of talented staff to competitors July 19, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland has lost more than 700 of its top investment bankers to rivals as it labours under government restrictions on compensation policy. The bank cannot pay cash bonuses this year as a result of the government bailout which has left it 70 per cent owned by the Treasury. Rivals are understood to [...]
Arcandor’s banks push for the sale of stake in UK travel group Thomas Cook July 30, 2009 THE leading banks of insolvent German retailer Arcandor are pushing for a sale of the group’s stake in travel operator Thomas Cook, of which they hold 43.9 per cent as collateral. Arcandor filed for insolvency in June after its request for state help failed. Chief executive Karl-Gerhard Eick has been keen to find ways to [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 6, 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopersThe accountancy firm has appointed Marco Amitrano to lead its UK risk assurance business.Amitrano, 39, joined the firm in 1992, and worked first in Newcastle and then for three years in the Chicago office. Most recently, he has had responsibility for all of the firm’s audit and related services to the UK subsidiaries of global [...]
SMOKING-HOT CUBANS LAUGH IN THE FACE OF A CIGAR SALES SLUMP February 23, 2010 CAVIAR, lobster, champagne and sports car sales have all been dwindling over the course of the downturn, so I suppose we really should have seen this one coming. Apparently, the latest luxury product to take a tumble is the Cuban cigar, synonymous with bulging wallets the world over – which saw an eight per cent [...]
Reds seal refinancing deal with RBS and Wachovia July 27, 2009 LIVERPOOL’S owners have ended months of uncertainty by refinancing £290m of debt they accrued in buying the club. The deal with Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia is believed to have extended Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s repayment period for a year. The Americans are also thought to have agreed to pay back £60m of [...]
BISCHOFF TO CHAIR LLOYDS June 30, 2009 SIR Win Bischoff, the ex-Citigroup chairman and veteran banker, is set to be named the next chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, it emerged last night. UK Financial Investments has asked the 67-year-old, who stepped down from Citi in February, to take the reins at the bank and lead it through the integration of HBOS, the [...]