RBS chief Hester alters pay deal in bid to placate critics July 1, 2009 ROYAL BANK of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester yesterday pledged to defer cashing incentive shares worth up to £3.4m for an extra two years in an attempt to defuse outrage over his controversial pay package. Hester’s overall package is potentially worth £9.7m, RBS said last week, drawing fire from politicians and trade unions who said [...]
Bank hate is exaggerated and simplistic August 3, 2009 IF WE are to believe most commentators, it is an outrage that Barclays and HSBC were able to report decent profits yesterday. The main reason, apparently, is that there are “fears” that lending remains too tight, and that the dreaded “bonus culture” will return. Needless to say, had the banks reported a collapse in earnings, [...]
Bank hate is exaggerated and simplistic August 3, 2009 IF WE are to believe most commentators, it is an outrage that Barclays and HSBC were able to report decent profits yesterday. The main reason, apparently, is that there are “fears” that lending remains too tight, and that the dreaded “bonus culture” will return. Needless to say, had the banks reported a collapse in earnings, [...]
THE LONDON REPORT August 4, 2009 WEAKNESS in miners and banks sent the FTSE 100 0.2 per cent lower yesterday, retreating from the 2009 of the previous session. The index closed 11.09 points lower at 4,671.37, after ending at 4,682.46 on Monday. “When you’ve had such a strong run since March and after such a strong July, you can’t expect to [...]
THE LONDON REPORT August 4, 2009 WEAKNESS in miners and banks sent the FTSE 100 0.2 per cent lower yesterday, retreating from the 2009 of the previous session. The index closed 11.09 points lower at 4,671.37, after ending at 4,682.46 on Monday. “When you’ve had such a strong run since March and after such a strong July, you can’t expect to [...]
RBS Asia to be broken up before it can be sold off June 21, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland’s planned sale of its Asian operations looks to be running into trouble, after regulatory hurdles made it likely that the bank will have to break up the unit into several pieces. HSBC, Standard Chartered and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) were all circling the businesses, but interest is thought [...]
Osborne to scrap FSA and beef up the Bank July 20, 2009 THE BANK of England will become the UK’s main financial regulator and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be abolished if the Conservatives win the next election, shadow chancellor George Osborne said yesterday. In the Tory response to chancellor Alistair Darling’s white paper on financial regulation, Osborne said he would “lead the British economy from [...]
Osborne to scrap FSA and beef up the Bank July 20, 2009 THE BANK of England will become the UK’s main financial regulator and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be abolished if the Conservatives win the next election, shadow chancellor George Osborne said yesterday. In the Tory response to chancellor Alistair Darling’s white paper on financial regulation, Osborne said he would “lead the British economy from [...]
ABN Amro to sell assets to ease EC fears July 7, 2009 DUTCH state-controlled bank ABN Amro is expected to strike a deal by mid-September to sell some assets to settle European Union competition concerns, the Dutch finance ministry said yesterday. The €70bn (£48bn) purchase of ABN in 2007 by a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Spain’s Santander and Belgian-Dutch group Fortis saw Fortis agree to [...]
BORIS ‘CIRCUS’ TAKES A HIT FROM TREASURY RINGMASTER MYNERS September 3, 2009 BORIS Johnson’s visit to Brussels yesterday looks to have ruffled quite a few feathers in the austere halls of the Treasury, which is now claiming it should be hogging the glory for defending the City’s hedge funds against the EU’s evil draft directive on alternative investment fund managers. Lord Myners, the City minister, yesterday got [...]