CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 10, 2010 Reed Smith The law firm has hired advertising law expert Marina Palomba to its partnership. Palomba joins the firm’s advertising group in London from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), where she has been legal director for eight years, advising all the main agencies in the UK including M&C Saatchi, Abbott Mead Vickers and [...]
British companies pay £10bn less in dividends during 2009 February 7, 2010 UK DIVIDENDS plummeted by £10bn in 2009 as companies looked to shore up their capital bases. Analysis by Capita Registrars found that investors are increasingly dependent on just a few companies for the bulk of payments, with a dominant quintet of BP, Shell, HSBC, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline paying out almost half the year’s dividends. Within [...]
Kraft seeks $4bn to pay for Cadbury February 3, 2010 KRAFT, the US food group, will raise at least $4bn (£2.5bn) in the debt markets to fund its £11.7bn acquisition of UK rival Cadbury, according to people close to the matter. The fundraising will consist of four tranches, each at least $1bn in size. The tranches will have maturities of 3¼, 6, 10 and 30 [...]
Banks weigh on the FTSE as Credit Suisse warns of future funding crisis March 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed a touch lower yesterday, as a weakening in banks after a cautious research note from Credit Suisse slightly outpaced buoyant oil issues and drugmakers. The FTSE 100 ended down 4.42 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,602.30, having closed up 0.1 per cent on Monday, its highest close since 2 [...]
FTSE 100 soars to 21-month high boosted by Greek bailout March 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares hit a 21-month closing high for the third day in a row yesterday, helped by a rally in banks as sovereign debt concerns faded, while retailers were boosted by upbeat results from Next and UK retail sales. The FTSE 100 ended 49.77 points higher at 5,727.65, finishing above the 5,700-mark for the [...]
CFD Profile | UK consumer price index February 1, 2010 Spread: Five basis points on the nearest contract month, 10 basis points for other contracts. Min/ Max size of trade: £1/£25 (maximum account position is £25) Margin Requirement: 5 per cent Trading Hours: 08:00-16:30 London time (Information provided by GFT) After rising to 2.9 per cent in December, the spike higher in UK inflation looks [...]
Budget fails to boost market as FTSE 100 treads water March 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares added 0.1 per cent yesterday as strength in miners and banks was balanced out by weakness in energy issues, with little overall impact from a Budget that contained few surprises. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 4.25 points at 5,677.88, having hit a fresh 21-month intra-day peak at 5,698.87 early [...]
EASTERN PROMISE March 1, 2010 PRUDENTIAL signed a gargantuan deal to buy the Asian assets of American International Group for $35.5bn (£24bn) yesterday, a move that will see it hold a heavily discounted rights issue in May. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam described the merger with American International Assurance as “transformational” as he announced the British insurer had the approval of [...]
FSA fines HSBC 3.2m July 22, 2009 BANKING giant HSBC has been slapped with a £3.2m fine for losing a floppy disk and CD containing customer details in the post and leaving client files out on desks. The bank now features in the top-ten biggest fines handed out by City watchdog Financial Services Authority (FSA), after the regulator said it made repeated [...]
Barclays chief set for grilling February 7, 2010 BARCLAYS chief executive John Varley is expected to echo president Bob Diamond’s defence of big banks when he appears before the Treasury Select Committee tomorrow. Varley, who will be quizzed as part of the committee’s “too important to fail” inquiry into the banking sector, will insist that large institutions with the ability to buy and [...]