PPI fines to hit £16bn November 25, 2012 TOTAL PPI compensation payouts are likely to hit £16bn, according to new estimates out today, providing a £10bn boost to consumer spending but crippling shareholders and hitting banks’ ability to lend to firms and individuals. The PPI payouts are reaching such a scale that they are being described as a bank windfall tax in all [...]
HSBC chairman Flint backs new Hippocratic oath for bankers November 25, 2012 DOUGLAS Flint is pushing for bankers to swear an equivalent to the medical profession’s traditional Hippocratic oath, as part of plans to improve standards in the industry. The HSBC boss is already on board with Barclays’ proposals for a new professional body to oversee qualifications in the sector, track misdemeanours as bankers change jobs, and [...]
Gloating over broken windows forgets their real costs November 25, 2012 THE price of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling continues to spiral upwards. Barclays put aside an extra £700m in October for PPI compensation, taking its expected payout to £2bn. RBS and HSBC have each set aside well over £1bn and Lloyds added another £1bn at the start of November, taking its PPI provision to an [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs November 25, 2012 Pioneer Investments The investment firm has announced three new hires. Hiromi Wada (right) joins from Itau Japan Asset Management. Martin Park joins from HSBC Global Asset Management. He has also held roles at Citibank. Finally, Matthew Marks joins from Prudential Asset Management. Caxton FX Tim Cooke has been appointed non-executive director at the foreign exchange [...]
FTSE 100 flat as EU budget talks continue November 23, 2012 A lack of headway on the EU budget talks kept the leading share index broadly flat in trading this morning. Eurasian Natural Resources was the biggest blue-chip riser, adding more than one per cent. On the FTSE All-Share, holiday group Thomas Cook rose 5.44 per cent, while credit card CPP Group added 2.88 per cent. [...]
Chinese factories bounce back November 22, 2012 China’s manufacturing sector turned around recent bad times in November, according to a business survey out yesterday, hitting a 13 month high in output. China’s overall purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector hit 50.4 in November, the figures from Markit and HSBC showed, just above the crucial no change level of 50, and thus back [...]
Strong commodities and SAB Miller drive FTSE to a three-week high November 22, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index reached a three-week high yesterday after gaining for a fourth straight session, driven by strength in commodity stocks after a return to growth in China’s manufacturing sector. The FTSE 100 index closed up 39 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,791.03, extending its gains for the week so far to almost [...]
SABMiller lifts FTSE 100 November 22, 2012 The leading share index was trading up this morning, as brewer SABMiller led the FTSE 100 up. Headline mining shares were also among the gainers this morning, as a return to growth in Chinese manufacturing activity boosted demand for metal companies. On the FTSE All-Share, Mothercare jumped almost nine per cent, on news that first-half [...]
Chinese manufacturing accelerates in November November 22, 2012 Chinese manufacturing activity expanded in November, a sign that the pace of economic growth has rebounded, a survey showed this morning. The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed above the critical 50 level – which separates growth from contraction – for the first time in 13 months. The index stood at 50.4 in [...]
FTSE 100 down on concerns over Greece November 21, 2012 The blue chip index edged down in early deals today, weighed down by a lack of agreement among Greece’s international lenders on emergency aid for the Eurozone country. Credit card insurer CPP Group fell 7.48 per cent, while Imagination Technologies sank 6.42 per cent on the news that it faced a rival for its bid [...]