Watchdog visits Barclays four times a week as FCA takes on Barclaycard oversight July 20, 2015 Barclays was visited by UK regulators on 186 separate occasions last year – more than twice as many times as the next most-visited lender, figures published yesterday show. The bank met with supervisors from the Financial Conduct Authority at its offices roughly four out of every five working days in 2014. The next most visited, [...]
Paris attacks and the economic impact of terrorism: As France mourns the cost of terror keeps climbing November 17, 2015 The economic impact of terrorism across the globe reached $52.9bn (£34.8bn) in 2014, rocketing 60 per cent on the previous year and increasing ten-fold since the start of the century, according to the latest Global Terrorism Index. The figure is the highest since at least 2001, when it was calculated at $51.5bn following the 9/11 [...]
Working Lunch: Pizzabuzz, EC2 September 2, 2015 Melissa York on the best places to eat during office hours in the City and Canary Wharf . WHAT? A build-your-own pizza restaurant, where you can pick everything from the bread to the sauce base. You add ingredients in steps as you move along the bar – think Subway, but with gourmet ingredients. Choose [...]
Societe Generale close to a deal for Canary Wharf headquarters October 20, 2014 French bank Societe Generale is understood to be close to signing a deal for a new office in Canary Wharf. The financial heavyweight had been widely expected to plump for a new headquarters in Spitalfields at the City Corporation’s Fruit and Wool Exchange site, but the bank is now reported to have chosen a site [...]
London coffee chain surges past £600,000 crowdfunding target June 30, 2015 ARTISAN coffee brand Notes smashed through its £600,000 fundraising target yesterday, reaching over £670,000 by last night. The firm chose crowdfunding as its method to raise the funds, and is using the Crowdcube online platform to do so. Over 25 per cent of the target amount was raised within 48 hours of the pitch going [...]
Is London FinTech recession-proof? January 21, 2015 The global financial tech capital faces few challenges. London's financial technology (FinTech) sector is booming. In the last few weeks alone consulting services giant Accenture opened its third London FinTech accelerator programme – whose alumni includes one of the capital’s most promising FinTech startups Digital Shadows. And last week the Canary Wharf Group added [...]
Canary Wharf owner Brookfield buys Center Parcs June 2, 2015 After all the effort Brookfield put into buying Songbird, the parent company of Canary Wharf, it's clearly in need of some leisure time: the Canadian investor has just bought Center Parcs from Blackstone. Read more: Brookfield – Center Parcs' next big owner Although its price was undisclosed, it is thought Brookfield paid somewhere in the region [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
Return to Utopia: The desire to live where you work harks back to the industrial towns of yesteryear February 19, 2015 On frosty, damp mornings like the ones London has seen of late, the morning commute is worse than ever. Biting winds followed by packed, sweltering trains, followed by more wind – it’s as if the commute was specifically designed to make you as ill-prepared as possible for the day ahead. Yet it’s accepted by millions [...]
Enjoy your cider with a view at The Gun in London Docklands September 1, 2015 It’s easy to forget how important the River Thames was to London in past centuries. But a trip to The Gun in the city's Docklands will put that straight. It's a slice of history all right – even Lord Nelson used to drink a pint or two here. Yet today, the pub is [...]