There are still many lessons to learn from the financial crisis April 13, 2013 MANY of us still remember vividly the events of 19 March 2008, when HBOS’s share price suddenly collapsed early in the morning, triggering intense interest in newsrooms and trading floors, and prompting the bank and the authorities to issue almost unprecedented denials. Laughably, HBOS claimed that it had “an exceptionally strong balance sheet.” The episode [...]
FTSE funds help raise £1bn for infrastructure February 18, 2013 A HOST of FTSE 100 retirement funds yesterday revealed they had raised £1bn to plough into the UK’s creak- ing infrastructure as inf luential investor Edmund Truell called on government to do more to boost building investment. Pension schemes run by BAE Systems, BT, Lloyds TSB and British Airways are among ten schemes launching a [...]
Buying an existing firm has its pluses February 10, 2013 ENTREPRENEURS found start-ups. Being entrepreneurial means starting a new company, with an original idea, or a more efficient process. Or so the old story goes. But does it need to be this way? Not according to professor Miguel Meulemann of Vlerick Business School in Belgium. Meuleman has launched a new initiative at the school – [...]
Private sector regains growth in the new year February 10, 2013 THE UK private sector surged back into growth in the first month of 2013, according to the results of a business survey out this morning. The Lloyds TSB purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 52 during January, the bank said, up from 49.9 in December and therefore through the crucial 50 barrier, into territory indicating [...]
Former Lloyds wholesale boss joins ANZ in US December 20, 2012 TRUETT Tate, Lloyds TSB’s former global head of wholesale and international banking, is going to head up the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s (ANZ) New York office as chief executive and head of institutional relationship banking America, it was announced yesterday. Tate will take up his new post from 1 February 2013. He resigned [...]
Are you more Optimistic about the Economy than a year ago? December 10, 2012 ALEC MASON MASTERCARD The same. There’s no indication that things are going to get worse; we’re close to the bottom of where we were going to be anyway. By the same token I don’t see any green shoots of recovery. NICK MOORE LLOYDS TSB I’m actually more optimistic. I know the economy could be better, [...]
Business surveys suggest third recession is starting January 13, 2013 THE UK may be falling into its third recession in four years, marking the third dip since the credit crunch, two business surveys indicated this morning. The UK returned to growth in the third quarter of 2012. However, British firms’ output weakened to 93.1 in the fourth quarter of 2012, accountants BDO said, from 93.4 [...]
UK investors trust Obama over Romney to heal US economy October 31, 2012 UK investors are firmly behind Barack Obama in his campaign to be re-elected president, data from Lloyds TSB revealed yesterday, with little more than a tenth backing Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Forty-two per cent of UK investors surveyed said they had more confidence in the President than former governor Romney, the data showed, versus just [...]
Banks already bouncing back from a disastrous year January 1, 2013 LAST year will be remembered as a terrible one for the banking industry. In previous articles I have described the wider impact scandals such as Libor-rigging had on the reputation of the industry as a whole. However, 2013 is a new year and consumer perception could be looking up for the likes of Barclays and [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 12, 2012 KNG Securities The fixed income product provider has appointed Andrea Podesta as managing partner and head of fixed income. He joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was managing director and head of southern Europe fixed income sales. BNY Mellon The financial services firm has appointed Alan Cottam as regional business head for [...]