UK bank shares: A pre-Brexit view March 12, 2019 Some UK bank shares have made massive profits for shareholders, but how should you play the sector now? It’s been a few weeks since the last of the big UK-listed banks published results for 2018, and share price performance since has been varied. Brexit, of course, has played its part and, with some lenders up [...]
Standard Chartered announces plan to slash costs February 26, 2019 Standard Chartered today announced further plans to slash costs as the lender reported that profits grew 28 per cent last year. The figures The group has completed $3.2bn worth of cuts since 2015 and is targeting a further $700m reduction in costs as part of its new three-year strategy to boost growth, it announced in [...]
HSBC boss John Flint needs to deliver short term rigour to the bank as well as a long term vision February 19, 2019 Imagine making nearly $20bn in profit during your first year in a job, only to be met with profound disappointment. Such is the lot of John Flint, the latest chief executive tasked with bringing the best out of Europe's biggest bank. HSBC's pre-tax profit for 2018 dragged the FTSE into the red on Tuesday, disappointing traders [...]
City Moves for 8 February – who’s switching jobs at Morrison & Foerster, Jefferies and DMH Stallard? February 8, 2019 Morrison & Foerster Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Christopher Kandel will be joining the firm’s London office in the coming days as a partner in its Finance practice. Christopher brings to the firm a wealth of experience in leveraged finance and complex international acquisition finance, and restructuring [...]
Three ways to start fixing audit now February 6, 2019 We are living through a pivotal time in the history of audit. Last December saw the release of Sir John Kingman’s report into the operation of the Financial Reporting Council and the preliminary findings of the market study by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This year we are seeing the Business, Energy and Industrial [...]
Watchdog boss: Auditors ‘clearly responsible’ for detecting company fraud February 5, 2019 The head of the UK’s beleaguered accountancy watchdog said auditors are “clearly responsible” for finding fraud in companies. Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said accountants too often buy into a “mythology” that they will not find wrongdoing while checking companies’ accounts. “The auditor is clearly responsible for finding fraud in [...]
Weathering the storm: City expects minimal Brexit impact on jobs February 5, 2019 The number of City jobs expected to move overseas in the event of a hard Brexit has fallen to just 2,000 – according to the latest survey of financial institutions. A Reuters study also suggests that investment banks are planning to increase their London headcount. In September, the Reuters survey showed that 5,766 jobs would [...]
If Britain looks outward, it will find Nigeria open for business January 29, 2019 As the vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement looms, parliament is at an impasse. The likelihood of a no-deal Brexit is increasing – in Germany, it is now seen as the most probable outcome, while in France, a “hard Brexit” contingency plan has been triggered. Deal or no deal, however, Brexit gives the UK the [...]
UK dividends hit record-breaking high in 2018 January 21, 2019 UK dividend payments rose to a record £99.8bn last year driven by rising profits and better than expected special dividends. British American Tobacco accounted for almost one fifth of the increase in UK dividends as it paid out an additional £900m over the course of 2018, entering the UK top five for the first time, according [...]
FTSE 100 index rises on hopes of US – China trade war breakthrough January 18, 2019 The FTSE 100 is up more than one per cent this morning on hopes of a breakthrough in trade talks between the US and China. The index was boosted by hopes of progress in the trade war, which were sparked by news reports suggesting that the US is considering reducing tariffs on Chinese imports. Read more: Markets lift [...]