ANALYST VIEWS: HOW WILL BOB DIAMOND FIT IN AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE? September 7, 2010 NEIL SHAH | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH “It’s a great example of succession planning as far as I’m concerned. He’ll be in a different position as chief executive, though, and he will probably be more measured in his approach. Where he was before and where he’s going to now are different and he’ll probably be operating [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 1, 2010 Baker & McKenzie The London office of Baker & McKenzie has expanded its financial services and regulatory practice with the hire of partner Ian Mason, who started at the firm yesterday. Mason, who joins from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, previously worked in the FSA’s enforcement division as head of the wholesale group. He joins a [...]
Banks jump on Basel III talk as FTSE hits four-month high September 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index rose sharply yesterday to post a four-month closing high, as US weekly jobless claims fell more than expected and further eased concerns of the United States falling back into recession. Economy-sensitive banks were among the top gainers, up 2.3 per cent, also aided by expectations that the new Basel III capital [...]
Banks jump on Basel III talk as FTSE hits four-month high September 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index rose sharply yesterday to post a four-month closing high, as US weekly jobless claims fell more than expected and further eased concerns of the United States falling back into recession. Economy-sensitive banks were among the top gainers, up 2.3 per cent, also aided by expectations that the new Basel III capital [...]
FTSE led lower as Smiths Group and banks fall despite gains by Unilever September 27, 2010 THE FTSE 100 closed down 25.06 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,573.42, after gaining 1.6 per cent last week, with Smiths Group out of favour while Unilever rose after a US acquisition. Broker recommendation and target price changes were behind some of the individual equity moves. Smiths shed 1.6 per cent after Bank of [...]
Barclays sees record profit but bosses refuse bonuses February 16, 2010 BARCLAYS’ full-year pre-tax profit soared by 92 per cent to £11.6bn in 2009. The figure was boosted by the sale of its BGI fund management arm to US firm BlackRock last year. But even after taking that out of the equation profits were £5.3bn. Barclays Capital investment banking business generated £2.5bn of that. The bank’s [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 3, 2010 Merchant Securities The financial services group has appointed Chris Smith as its new head of institutional broking, focusing on establishing a research capability in the financials sector. Smith has covered financials for over 20 years, latterly at Jefferies International and Oriel Securities. He also previously worked for HSBC James Capel, where he was the top-ranked [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 6, 2010 HOME RETAIL GROUP Seymour Pierce has upgraded the owner of Argos to a “hold” ahead of its trading update on Thursday. The firm has lost 29.5 per cent of its value in a year, and the current share price of 221p is near fair value, it believes. The broker notes that the retailer’s strong balance [...]
Lloyds Group tops ombudsman’s list for most complaints September 14, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group topped the list of financial services companies that consumers have registered complaints with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) about in the last six months, its latest figures revealed yesterday. Government-backed Lloyds TSB, was the subject of some 12,750 complaints during the six-month period. That was almost 5,000 more than Barclays Bank, which [...]
Don’t let a long sugar trade leave you with sweet nothing October 24, 2010 SUGAR prices have shot through the roof in the last week, with sugar number 11 – the main benchmark for raw sugar prices – rallying comfortably over 28 cents per pound, double its price in late 2008. Commodity traders might be licking their chops at the thought of a sharp correction – or even a [...]