Bank decision boosts market as the bankwagon rolls on August 6, 2009 THE LARGE-CAP index closed higher yesterday, driven by strength from banks after the Bank of England (BoE) surprised markets by expanding its quantitive easing plan to £175bn. The FTSE 100 closed 43.40 points higher, or 0.9 per cent, at 4,690.53, after hitting a fresh 2009 intraday high of 4,729.58 following the BoE announcement. The BoE [...]
Sandler new candidate for Lloyds chair July 19, 2009 RON Sandler, the man parachuted in to Northern Rock by the government to turn the stricken mortage lender around, has emerged as a surprise candidate to succeed Sir Victor Blank as chairman of Lloyds Banking Group. The bank, which is 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer, has drawn up a shortlist of names for [...]
Goldman to fight bonus fury in court December 15, 2009 INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs is being sued for billions of dollars in compensation after an institutional shareholder accused it of blindly “looting” the firm’s coffers by paying out rich rewards to its employees. The lawsuit, which has been filed with the New York Supreme Court by the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America Retirement [...]
Tesco finance unit shuns Lloyds and RBS assets November 17, 2009 Tesco is not interested in any assets bailed-out banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland will be forced to sell to satisfy EU antitrust worries, the head of Tesco Personal Finance said. Benny Higgins also said on the sidelines of the Euro Finance Week conference yesterday that Tesco might not launch a current account until [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2010 Coutts & Co The private bank has appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its Oxford office, focusing on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets. Bradley joins from Coutts’ head office in London, where she has worked for the past five years, latterly as a business partner for international clients. Prior to that, [...]
Obama hits out at fat cat US bankers December 14, 2009 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night lashed out at Wall Street bankers, labeling them “fat cats” who “don’t get it”. Speaking on the eve of today’s meeting with top US bankers at the White House, Obama said he was frustrated with the banks that the government had bailed out. “I did not run for office [...]
Large cap index back on the up as sentiment stays high August 12, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed up by 1 per cent yesterday, as investors took their positions ahead of last night’s Federal Reserve statement on US growth prospects. The index ended 45.42 points higher at 4,716.76, after closing down 1.1 per cent on Tuesday, its biggest fall in a fortnight after hitting 2009 highs on Friday. “Great, [...]
BISCHOFF TO CHAIR LLOYDS June 30, 2009 SIR Win Bischoff, the ex-Citigroup chairman and veteran banker, is set to be named the next chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, it emerged last night. UK Financial Investments has asked the 67-year-old, who stepped down from Citi in February, to take the reins at the bank and lead it through the integration of HBOS, the [...]
International Power leading the way for defensive stocks August 11, 2009 THE LARGE cap index shed 1.1 per cent yesterday, knocked by weakness in heavyweight banks, miners, and oils, but defensive stocks were back in favour once again. The FTSE 100 was 50.86 points lower at 4,671.34 by the close of the session, weakening for a second day after hitting a 10-month closing high of 4,731.56 [...]
Lloyds to help struggling firms June 21, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group yesterday confirmed that it will beef up its corporate restructuring team to help struggling companies battle through the recession. The bank has already increased the size of its restructuring team from 250 employees to 400 in the past 12 months, but plans to increase the headcount to 800 by the end of [...]