Bank stakes sale is on hold, insists UKFI April 15, 2010 UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is adamant it will not start selling down the taxpayer’s stakes in RBS and Lloyds ahead of the general election, preferring to add value by biding its time than to make a quick buck at a time of widespread uncertainty. Speculation has been rife over recent weeks that UKFI could be [...]
Blankfein: I had worst day April 26, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has said that the day the SEC civil fraud charges against his firm became public earlier this month was “one of the worst days in my professional life.” In written testimony released ahead of a Senate hearing a clearly affected Blankfein said: “We have to do a better job of [...]
European firms are sitting on extra 270bn pension deficit November 16, 2009 Top European firms are underestimating their pension obligations by €300bn (£270bn), with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group among the worst offenders, according to new figures. Lloyds has underestimated its obligations by €14.2bn, more than any other European firm, followed by RBS, which has unrecognised liabilities of €13.3bn, according to calculations by equity [...]
Admiral works on debt deal with its banker November 16, 2009 ADMIRAL Taverns yesterday confirmed it was working on a financial restructuring which is expected to leave Lloyds Banking Group owning half the pub chain. It was revealed that Lloyds is set to agree a £600m debt-for-equity swap at the tenanted pub company group, in the latest fallout from the banking group’s ill-fated merger last year [...]
Miners push FTSE higher but M&S weighs on retail shares January 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares added 0.1 percent yesterday as a rally by heavyweight miners, in tandem with stronger metal prices, offset weakness in energy issues, with retailers upset by a disappointing update from M&S. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 7.54 points higher at 5,530.04, another 16-month closing high. “It looks like the big [...]
Treasury hits back at WTO’s bailout attack November 22, 2009 THE government last night defended bank bailouts in retaliation to suggestions by the World Trade Organisation that Britain may have contravened trade laws in keeping Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group afloat. The Treasury responded with surprise to comments from WTO director general Pascal Lamy that bank bailouts may amount to “financial protectionism”. [...]
Miners push FTSE higher but M&S weighs on retail shares January 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares added 0.1 percent yesterday as a rally by heavyweight miners, in tandem with stronger metal prices, offset weakness in energy issues, with retailers upset by a disappointing update from M&S. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 7.54 points higher at 5,530.04, another 16-month closing high. “It looks like the big [...]
Kingman gets City transfer November 22, 2009 JOHN Kingman, the former UK Financial Investments boss, has agreed to refrain from working with state-owned banks for 12 months after he takes up his new role at NM Rothschild. Rothschild will announce today that Kingman will start in March as a managing director at the 200-year-old investment bank. But his appointment has already sparked [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 24, 2010 KATE SOLWAY, 30 FUNDS CONTROLLER AT PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM COGNETAS Kate is single and lives in rented accommodation with flatmates. She also owns two investment properties – one a London flat with a mortgage which she rents out, and the other a holiday home under construction in Cape Verde, which she owns outright and will [...]
BIG CURRY FETCHES A FORTUNE FOR ARMY April 29, 2010 OFF to the Guildhall yesterday for the Lord Mayor’s annual “Big Curry”, a Bacchanalian feast in aid of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. City types in attendance dug deep into their pockets for Britain’s brave soldiers – the event’s committee featured such business luminaries as Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene, Bernard Cazenove, Sir Trevor Chinn [...]