CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 5, 2009 Association of British InsurersThe ABI has appointed Kerrie Kelly, currently chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), as its new director general, effective from next February. Kelly has led the ICA since 2006, having formerly been CEO of the country’s Financial Planning Association. She is currently a non-executive director at HSBC in Australia, [...]
Kremlin seeks Western capital with bond issue November 1, 2009 A RUSSIAN delegation will arrive in London this week to announce an £11bn bond issue as it seeks Western investment in its struggling economy. Deputy prime minister Alexei Kudrin, who is also Russia’s finance minister, will meet business secretary Peter Mandelson, bringing with him senior figures from the Russian central bank and finance ministry, as [...]
Defender of business says a hung parliament would be disastrous February 7, 2010 HE MIGHT have parted company with the CBI four years ago, but Lord Digby Jones is still one of the staunchest defenders of the private sector. When he gives me his business card at the opening of a Vodafone store in the City, it is emblazoned with a motto that sums up his philosophy: “Only [...]
People still value the personal touch from banks November 17, 2009 LAST week saw the launch of NatWest’s personal banking iPhone app, in line with the banking sector’s efforts to cut costs and improve user experience by moving their operations online. Recent YouGov research undertaken on behalf of Deloitte points to the risks in an online strategy: customers place high value on face-to-face interactions in their [...]
European shares in 3.3 per cent slump November 26, 2009 European shares slipped 3.3 per cent yesterday to record their biggest one-day percentage drop in seven months as concerns about debt problems in Dubai weighed on the market, with banks the major fallers. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 33.81 points at 988.14 – its lowest close in three weeks. “The [...]
Treasury faces massive refund bill on tax ruling October 1, 2009 THE European Union’s top court ruled yesterday that a British tax on share transactions breaks EU law, leaving an already cash-strapped UK Treasury potentially facing a refund bill running to billions of pounds. HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, argued in the European Court of Justice that when it bought French rival CCF in 2000, it had [...]
JPMorgan eats up 1bn Caz leftovers November 18, 2009 US INVESTMENT bank JPMorgan Chase & Co is expected to seal its £1bn buyout of the remainder of Cazenove today. JPMorgan will pay around 500p per share for the last 50 per cent of the 190-year-old British brokerage, valuing the total business at £2bn. The deal will land a multi-million pound windfall for many Cazenove [...]
Top bankers warn on the cost of new FSA powers November 17, 2009 Two top London bankers yesterday stepped up warnings that tightening regulatory rules on capital and bonuses too soon could stall economic recovery. HSBC chairman Stephen Green said that planned increases in capital ratios could “easily withdraw credit from the economy and cause a new credit crunch”. He added that “going over the top with risk-averse [...]
Q & A : What next for DubaI? November 26, 2009 Q. WHY ARE WORLD MARKETS NOW SO CONCERNED ABOUT DUBAI’S DEBT PROBLEM? A. European banks are exposed to about half of Dubai’s $80bn (£48.5bn) debt pile. The emirate’s debt moratorium triggered fears that those banks’ bad debts could worsen again, endangering the global recovery. Analysts at Credit Suisse said European banks could face a 5 [...]
JPM and Caz close to sealing a takeover deal October 18, 2009 UBS has completed its valuation of Cazenove and is expected to present a figure to JP Morgan, which is mulling a bid for the UK brokerage before the end of the year. JPM appointed Swiss investment bank UBS to execute the valuation, with a view to buying out Cazenove, with which it has a 50-50 [...]