US regulators should treat British finance as innocent until proven guilty August 12, 2012 ANOTHER week and, seemingly, another scandal. This summer of discontent for the banking sector shows no sign of drawing to a close, as Standard Chartered is just the latest in a line of UK banks facing accusations of wrongdoing. In this case, the allegation is wire-stripping on U-turn transactions with Iranian entities. It is important [...]
FTSE funds help raise £1bn for infrastructure February 18, 2013 A HOST of FTSE 100 retirement funds yesterday revealed they had raised £1bn to plough into the UK’s creak- ing infrastructure as inf luential investor Edmund Truell called on government to do more to boost building investment. Pension schemes run by BAE Systems, BT, Lloyds TSB and British Airways are among ten schemes launching a [...]
Icy times between fund managers and bankers January 23, 2013 ARROGANT, indolent, avaricious – and these are some of the politer adjectives applied to investment bankers and private equity firms during their ongoing stand-off with City fund managers. The permafrost between them has shown few signs of thawing since two BlackRock executives outlined in 2011 a litany of gripes about the way bankers sell new [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 5, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Turner defends permanent printing Lord Turner, outgoing chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has launched an impassioned defence of financing government spending by printing money, arguing that within limits it “absolutelym definitely [does] not lead to inflation. Speaking ahead of a valedictory speech in London today, Lord Turner, who applied to be the [...]
London must regain its Victorian spirit to capitalise on the triumph of 2012 January 1, 2013 NOW the curtain has closed on a glorious 2012 for London and Britain, the stage is already being prepared for a very different year ahead. We’ll need to build on recent achievements to deliver a tangible legacy for future generations. We must up our game, rather than lower our expectations for 2013. This means focusing [...]
City’s brightest named in legal hot 100 line-up January 28, 2013 SOME of the City’s top lawyers have been named on the industry’s annual Hot 100 list, including the silk helping Guardian Care Homes pursue Barclays for Libor-related mis-selling and the partner leading Co-op through its bid for Lloyds bank branches. The Lawyer magazine’s 2013 list, released yesterday, singles out 100 legal names to watch this [...]
Following arguments that bank regulators have failed, is self-regulation the answer? July 22, 2012 YES Peter Meinertzhagen The main problem with regulation by statutory bodies is that nothing gets done. Witness the inquiry into the fixing of Libor rates. If the governor of the Bank of England could still raise his eyebrows, as in the days of self-regulation, Barclays would have had to act or face the consequences. During [...]
Would leaving the European Union be a positive move for businesses in Britain? January 17, 2013 YES Robert Hiscox The EU is a slow-moving caravan, forced to move at the speed of its slowest member. It imposes job-destroying, one-size-fits-all regulations and policies, in a centralised manner. But to prosper, companies (and countries) need policy flexibility, which the EU does not offer. Unfortunately, we have little democratic capacity to overturn bad EU laws. [...]
Google Glass won’t save humanity – but could show us a larger richer world February 22, 2013 THE LONG VIEW TWO VISIONS of our technological future are battling it out this week. Google has released a promotional video celebrating the potential of its astonishing, voice-activated heads-up display Google Glass, complete with acrobats on video chat in mid-air. Meanwhile, the new series of Charlie Brooker’s TV show Black Mirror continues with a bleak [...]
Chinese property giant to make maiden investment in the City December 20, 2012 CHINA’S largest property developer by market value is set to make its first foray outside of the country after putting in an offer to buy One Finsbury Circus in the City for £152m. China Overseas Land & Investment is close to signing a deal to acquire the freehold of the Grade II listed block, designed [...]