Virgin close to bank deal January 3, 2010 VIRGIN Money hopes acquiring a bank as early as this month could help the company become a major player in consumer finance. It has already approached Quayle Munro, the bank founded by the chairman of parent company Virgin Group, to advise on a transaction. It is thought Virgin’s banking arm will focus on providing a [...]
Nomura team triple pay pot June 1, 2010 JAPANESE bank Nomura tripled the amount it handed out in compensation to its executive team last year after the bank returned to profit, arguing that it needed to maintain a “competitive” pay structure to keep top talent on board. Chief executive Kenichi Watanabe, chief operating officer Takumi Shibata and eight other executives shared a total [...]
Market rally is a positive for Rathbone January 7, 2010 RATHBONE Brothers yesterday reported a 25 per cent increase in funds under management for 2009 as buoyant equity markets repaired the damage done in the depths of the recession. Total assets under management climbed to £13.1bn in December, up from £10.5bn a year earlier in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse. The 268-year-old firm [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE THE BANKS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY? April 27, 2010 PIYUSH TRIPATHI | DEUTSCHE BANK “Revenue is rising and so are the number of jobs at the bank, which are both strong signs of growth and recovery. People weren’t ready for the slow when it happened and now they are more cautious, so this recovery isn’t a superficial one. A fall in the sector is [...]
SRG to raise £25m from IPO June 28, 2010 The owners of British coal miner Scottish Resources Group are seeking to bank more than £200m next month by selling stakes held for 16 years in an initial public (IPO) offer. The company is currently mostly owned by investment vehicles Parkburn and Palmaris Capital, who have held their stakes since 1994 when it was created [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 25, 2009 LLOYDS BANKING GROUPCharles Stanley yesterday maintained its “hold” position on Lloyds Banking Group. It said Lloyds has come a long way with its massive cash call to exit the government asset protection scheme. But it said the next two years are likely to be difficult and the group is unlikely to pay a dividend until [...]
Abu Dhabi in Citi dispute December 16, 2009 CITIGROUP has vowed to fight an action brought by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which claims the banking giant misled it over a $7.5bn (£4.6bn) investment. ADIA bought shares in 2007 for eight times the current price. The beleaguered bank had turned to the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund to replenish capital after seeing [...]
London slumps to a five-week low led by bank and oil stocks January 27, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a five-week closing low yesterday, dragged down by energy stocks and banks ahead of the conclusion of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting. The FTSE 100 closed down 59.38 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 5,217.47, its lowest close since 18 December. The index gained 0.3 per cent on Tuesday, [...]
Sceptre Leisure credit facility December 2, 2009 Sceptre Leisure announced yesterday that it has agreed to a £6m revolving credit facility and £0.5m overdraft with Lloyds Banking Group to replace an existing £3m overdraft, which was due to expire on 31 December 2009. The group reduced its net debt from £19.3m to £16.7m in the six months to 31 October.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 20, 2010 KPMG Kathryn Britten has joined the accountancy firm as a partner and chairman of its growing forensic practice. Britten has over 30 years of audit and accountancy experience and specialises in professional negligence and commercial dispute issues. She joins KPMG from rival BDO, where she has been the national head of their forensic accounting and [...]