Dentons to merge with US law firm May 26, 2010 DENTON Wilde Sapte and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (SNR) yesterday agreed to merge, creating a £500m law firm with over 1,400 lawyers. Management boards at both firms recommended to their respective partnerships that the two businesses be combined. The merger, if it wins approval from a partnership vote held early next month, will see the [...]
FTSE panics at the off but recovers some of its losses May 7, 2010 The FTSE fell 6.6 points to 5254.36 this morning as investors woke up to the prospect of a hung parliament. Panic on the opening bell caused the blue chip index to lose 100 points but it later recovered. “Sterling has been the worst affected by the news of the hung parliament but there has undoubtedly [...]
Silicon Valley Bank aims for UK licence April 13, 2010 SILICON Valley Bank (SVB), the American lender that has backed Twitter and Cisco Systems, is applying for a UK banking licence in a move that could bring serious competition to the commercial market. The US-based firm aims to open its first branch in London next year if the FSA gives it the thumbs up. SVB, [...]
The car insurance boss who wants to motor into new foreign markets August 22, 2010 It is a case of ‘Recession? What recession?’ for motor insurance firm Admiral, which is in the middle of taking on 750 staff in the UK alone this year. And that means an awful lot of meetings for the Cardiff-based firm’s 53-year-old chief executive Henry Engelhardt. The Chicago-born boss meets every one of his new [...]
Markets in turmoil May 25, 2010 SHARES worldwide plunged yesterday as fears that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis would lead to a fresh collapse in the banking sector, and rising tensions between North and South Korea took their toll on jittery investors. The FTSE 100 index plummeted, ending the day 2.5 per cent lower at 4,940.68, below the psychologically important 5,000 level [...]
Interest rates set to remain in a deadlock May 9, 2010 MONETARY policy should remain on hold this month to provide some certainty to the markets and to give the Bank of England time to fully assess the political situation, a majority of City A.M.’s Shadow MPC say ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee decision that is due at midday today. Only Henderson’s Simon Ward thinks [...]
Lehman documents made public April 14, 2010 Undisclosed documents used to contribute to the 2,200-page report on the crash of Lehman Brothers were yesterday made public by US bankruptcy judge James Peck. The report by Anton Valukas, the court appointed examiner, showed that Goldman Sachs, Barclays and DRW Trading of Chicago took over the US futures and options trades of Lehman Brothers [...]
Barclays eyes Standard Life Bank division September 28, 2009 BARCLAYS is eyeing a bid for the banking operations of insurance titan Standard Life, sources close to the situation said yesterday. The insurer is understood to have put its Standard Life Bank unit up for sale at a price of between £200m and £300m and people familiar with Barclays’ plans said that the business would [...]
FTSE hit by German ban on shorting May 19, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares fell steeply yesterday, as commodity-linked stocks and banks were hit by Germany’s attempt to stop speculators driving down the euro, bonds and share prices by limiting short-selling. The FTSE 100 closed down 149.26 points, or 2.8 per cent, at 5,158.08, having added 0.9 per cent on Tuesday, as Germany’s move shook markets [...]
Bankers must look hard at pay if they want to win back the public’s support April 14, 2010 JUDGING by public and media sentiment over the past couple of years, the fairground arcade staple of whack-a-mole will at some point be replaced by the sport of whack-a-banker. The credit crunch blame-game does not appear to be dissipating. A particular bone of contention between the banks, politicians and the public is the issue of [...]