Bond St priciest spot in Europe April 14, 2014 OLD Bond Street, home to London’s jewellers and luxury brands, has held onto its title as the most expensive shopping street in Europe, according to a survey out yesterday. Retailers now pay rents of £838 per square feet per year as demand for space on Britain’s prized shopping street continues to outpace supply, property advisers [...]
Regulators step up probes into currency fixing March 31, 2014 COMPETITION authorities in Switzerland yesterday took their probe into alleged foreign exchange market manipulation to the next level, opening investigations into eight banks. The banks are spread across Switzerland, the UK and US, and the move represents the latest step by a range of global regulators to get to the bottom of claims of market [...]
UBS suspends FX traders in New York, Zurich and Singapore March 27, 2014 Six more foreign exchange traders have been suspended by UBS, as first reported by Bloomberg. The move comes amid Switzerland’s largest bank’s internal investigation into alleged manipulation of key currency benchmarks. Three traders were in New York, two in Zurich and one in Singapore, according to two sources cited by the FT. One source reportedly [...]
Renminbi trading in London to be cleared by early next week March 26, 2014 AUTHORITIES from the UK and China will sign an agreement next Monday to allow investors in London to clear and settle the Asian giant’s currency. The deal paves the way for London to establish itself as the prime location for renminbi trading in Europe. Both countries’ central banks – the Bank of England and the People’s [...]
Insurer calls for tax rebate in the Budget March 12, 2014 ZURICH is calling on the chancellor George Osborne to offer a tax rebate for income protection insurance, in a submission to the Treasury ahead of the Budget next week. Chief executive Gary Shaughnessy has written to Osborne to ask for a temporary annual tax-rebate of £50 per insured person and employer, in a bid to [...]
Zurich will cut 800 jobs in bid to slash costs March 11, 2014 GLOBAL insurer Zurich is to cut 800 jobs from its operations in the UK, Ireland and Switzerland as part of a cost-cutting exercise. A spokesperson for the insurer said the job losses reflect 1.4 per cent of the total headcount at the group, and that the scheme will remove management layers. The news comes after [...]
Ackermann steps down from Shell’s board March 3, 2014 FTSE 100 oil major Royal Dutch Shell yesterday said that Josef Ackermann, a non-executive director, would step down from the board at its annual meeting on 20 May. This is the latest departure for the former Deutsche Bank boss, who quit as chairman of insurer Zurich after its finance chief committed suicide, leaving a note [...]
Swiss Re replaces finance boss February 20, 2014 REINSURANCE giant Swiss Re has exceeded analyst expectations and posted strong results for 2013. The group yesterday reported a 34 per cent increase in net profit in the fourth quarter of the year to $1.2bn (£720m), up from $795m in the previous year. Alongside its results, Swiss Re also announced the appointment of its new [...]
Swiss Re announces new finance chief as results beat expectations February 20, 2014 Swiss Re, the reinsurer, has announced it’s appointed a new finance chief, David Cole, and upped its dividend on the back of an unexpected rise in net income. The giant European firm’s proposed raising its dividend to 3.85 Swiss francs per share, with a special dividend of 4.15 Swiss francs per share. The company reported [...]
Gulf rig outfit taps London for $100m of cash February 17, 2014 GULF Marine Services yesterday announced plans to float on the London stock market in a deal valuing the oil services company at $1bn. The company, which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi but has offices near Aberdeen, said it expects to raise $100m in an initial offering of shares, which it will use to purchase a [...]