Lloyds wins bonus showdown May 6, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group managed to get approval for controversial plans to award executives bonuses yesterday, despite expectations of a shareholder rebellion. Nearly 91.5 per cent of the government-owned bank’s shareholders voted through its remuneration programme. Although chief executive Eric Daniels will waive his £2m bonus, directors Tim Tookey, Helen Weir and Truett Tate will take [...]
Eurozone debt fears weigh on FTSE as investors flee from risky asset classes May 20, 2010 MOUNTING fears on Eurozone debt and doubts about the global economic recovery sent investors fleeing from riskier assets, shoving Britain’s top share index 1.7 per cent lower by close yesterday. In a volatile session, the FTSE 100 ended down 84.95 points at 5,073.13, its lowest close since 5 February having fallen 2.8 per cent on [...]
Eurozone debt fears weigh on FTSE as investors flee from risky asset classes May 20, 2010 MOUNTING fears on Eurozone debt and doubts about the global economic recovery sent investors fleeing from riskier assets, shoving Britain’s top share index 1.7 per cent lower by close yesterday. In a volatile session, the FTSE 100 ended down 84.95 points at 5,073.13, its lowest close since 5 February having fallen 2.8 per cent on [...]
HSBC STAFF MOVE INTO RITZY NEW CHINA DIGS June 9, 2010 MORE Far Eastern joy for HSBC chief Michael Geoghegan, who relocated to Hong Kong earlier this year as part of a drive by the bank to up its focus on Asia. Geoghegan yesterday cut the ribbon on the bank’s swanky new China HQ, located in a shiny tower at the heart of the Shanghai finance [...]
THE TIPSTER May 5, 2010 IT MIGHT be worth buying a small tranche of UK banking stocks. For the first time in over a year they have all drifted lower, not because of bad debt issues or sub prime worries, as was the case during the credit crunch, but because of a retraction in global risk sentiment. Spreadex offers a [...]
FTSE lifted by banks and commodities as investor fears over Eurozone recede May 18, 2010 BANKS and commodity-linked stocks pushed Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, with risk appetite returning among investors as Eurozone debt fears ebbed, and Man Group recouping the previous session’s losses. The FTSE 100 ended up 44.80 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,307.34, but after retreating from an earlier session high of 5,341.41. “Any move [...]
UK bank stocks are attractive but precarious June 2, 2010 COMPARED to some of the financial institutions in continental Europe, Britain’s banks, even the part-nationalised ones, are managing to exude an air of respectability and even strength. While French and German financial institutions – banks and insurers – are estimated by Barclays Capital to hold just under €80bn of Greek debt, British banks have minimal [...]
London rises on comments by Fed chairman Bernanke June 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, lifted by gains in miners and banks, as investor appetite for risk was boosted by positive comments on the US economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The FTSE 100 closed up 57.71 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,085.86, after a choppy session which saw the index [...]
BRIGHT STARS GATHER AT CITY’S ANNUAL OSCARS June 15, 2010 THOMSON Reuters rolled out the (imaginary) red carpet yesterday for the annual Extel awards, commonly known as the “Oscars” of the City. This year’s affair, hosted by perky Today presenter John Humphrys, was decidedly more upbeat than in 2009, when “credit crunch” presenter Axel Threlfall of Thomson Reuters’ multimedia platform Project Insider quipped that he [...]
Pru investors to rebel over executive pay June 6, 2010 THREE major investors are voting against Prudential’s remuneration package, heaping more misery on the embattled firm. Aviva Investors, Schroders and Co-operative Investments, all top 40 investors, say the awards being offered to two new executives, which have come under scrutiny lucrative “golden hello” deals, are unacceptable. The remuneration package is still expected to pass at [...]