HEADACHE FOR AVIVA INVESTORS OVER THEIR LIBYAN LANDLORD March 2, 2011 INTERESTING times at 14 Cornhill, the commercial property with a prime location opposite the Bank of England. Its owner has become embroiled in a little local difficulty involving global asset freezing. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the sovereign wealth fund that administers the troubled country’s oil billions, has owned 14 Cornhill since December 2009, when [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 19, 2011 Alvarez & Marshal Alvarez & Marsal, the global professional services firm, is expanding its European real estate advisory business in Europe with the appointment of London-based directors, Patrick Anderson and Caspar Vredenbregt. Anderson and Vredenbregt both have over 12 years of experience in real estate development, investment and finance. Prior to joining A&M, Anderson was [...]
CITY A.M. | SHADOW MPC January 12, 2011 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M “The recovery is still on track, despite the effects of December’s winter freeze. With inflation set to hit four per cent in the coming months, rates must be normalied before it is too late.” SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “Raise by 0.5 per cent. A rate hike last summer would have [...]
How to rob your bank January 19, 2011 SANTANDER has brought back its switching deal, giving new customers £100 when they move their main current account to its offering which pays 5 per cent interest for the first year. However, the bank has been voted worst for customer service in a string of surveys by organisations including Moneywise, MoneySavingExpert.com and consumer group Which? [...]
Irish Life relaxed over capital levels if mortgage market falls November 17, 2010 IRISH LIFE & PERMANENT said yesterday it was confident Irish banks are adequately capitalised to deal with any downturn in the nation’s residential mortgage market. Investors are worried home loans could become a new black hole for Ireland’s banks, but Irish Life, whose permanent tsb banking unit is one of the biggest operators in the [...]
Irish Life relaxed over capital levels if mortgage market falls November 17, 2010 IRISH LIFE & PERMANENT said yesterday it was confident Irish banks are adequately capitalised to deal with any downturn in the nation’s residential mortgage market. Investors are worried home loans could become a new black hole for Ireland’s banks, but Irish Life, whose permanent tsb banking unit is one of the biggest operators in the [...]
Economic sentiment improves November 14, 2010 THE first quarters of next year will bring no relief from the UK’s economic slowdown, according to a business trends report released today by accountancy firm BDO. But the report’s optimism index suggests that sentiment is in slightly better shape than it was during the summer – although it still forecasts a contraction in the [...]
Q&A BIS FUNDING December 9, 2010 Q. Does the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) have programs that help entrepreneurs? What are they? A.BIS has several programs that can give extra funding to entrepreneurs. Chief among them are the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) and the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF). EFGs are bank loans intended for small and medium sized enterprises [...]
Taylor Wimpey begins £250m bond offering November 22, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey rounded off its refinancing plan yesterday by announcing a new £100m debt facility and plans to sell £250m of five-year bonds. The news follows on from the firm’s £950m credit facility, which was announced last week as the last act by outgoing chief financial officer Chris Rickard. Prudential’s M&G UK Companies Financing [...]
An Alpine refuge from the Eurozone storms December 7, 2010 FOR centuries, Switzerland has been perceived as one of the safest places to store your wealth. Not only does it have a long legacy of a discreet private banking system it has also been successful at keeping inflation under control, promoting economic growth and keeping its fiscal books in order. Consequently, the Swiss franc does [...]