Barclays star Jenkins to quit the bank to set up his own business July 19, 2009 TOP Barclays dealmaker Roger Jenkins is understood to be leaving the bank to set up an advisory business targeting sovereign wealth funds. Jenkins, thought to earn around £40m a year, was instrumental in securing the £5.8bn investment from Middle Eastern state-backed investors that helped the bank steer clear of government control. The news comes as [...]
BANKERS STAY QUIET ON UNITED BOND DEAL January 11, 2010 CITY bankers are not usually backwards in coming forwards when it comes to getting publicity for their transactions, so why the reticence yesterday when it came to taking the credit for Manchester United’s £500m bond issue. United’s initial press release was as brief as could possibly be, with no mention even of the banks involved [...]
Osborne set to meet bankers January 18, 2010 BANKING bosses will meet with George Osborne and Boris Johnson this morning to discuss the Tories’ plans for their industry, City A.M. has learnt. City A.M. understands that those in attendance will include Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Europe Jonathan Moulds, and vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs Michael Sherwood. Executives from [...]
Gains in banking shares lead the FTSE to a six-week high March 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a six-week closing high yesterday and rose for a third straight session, led by banks with HSBC firmer after the previous session’s post results sell-off. The FTSE 100 closed up 78.12 points, or 1.45 per cent, at 5,484.06, its highest closing level since January 19, after climbing 1 per cent [...]
Pitman: Virgin Money to buy state assets February 1, 2010 VIRGIN Money could pick up assets on the cheap from the UK’s government-supported banks, chairman Sir Brian Pitman suggested yesterday. Setting out the ambitious target of growing revenues and customer numbers by 15 per cent annually, the 78-year-old said Virgin Money would pursue a combination of organic and bolt-on expansion. Pitman, a former chief executive [...]
Banks boost FTSE on hopes that RBS results bring cheer February 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares rose 0.5 per cent yesterday, led by banks and echoing gains on Wall Street as US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke assuaged fears of an earlier than expected interest rate rise. The FTSE 100 ended 27.83 points higher at 5,342.92 buoyed by the Fed chairman’s statement and after it had closed 0.7 [...]
Umbers leaves his perch at Evolution Securities February 3, 2010 ANDREW Umbers stepped down yesterday as chief executive of the securities arm at investment bank Evolution, after leading a recruiting drive over the course of the crisis. Umbers did not give a reason for his decision, but said: “I now feel the time is right for me to pursue opportunities elsewhere.” Group chief executive Alex [...]
Despite its fiscal weakness, dollar remains attractive February 9, 2010 THE US dollar has staged an impressive rally against the euro and sterling. The US is benefiting from safe haven flows as investors ditch the euro over fears of a sovereign debt crisis for Greece that could spread to Portugal, Spain and even to the UK. But are the US’s finances actually any better than [...]
Virgin and Tesco banks are unlikely to upset big players January 11, 2010 THE UK’s top five banks will continue to dominate the market despite the recent glut of negative publicity. A new report from Datamonitor suggests new players entering the market have “missed the boat” and should have launched in the direct aftermath of the banking crisis. Customer inertia is seen as the biggest stopping point for [...]
Banks suffer headache of reform plans January 27, 2010 THE SLEW of banking reforms being mooted by world leaders could lead to damaging credit rating downgrades for US banks and force their European counterparts to find €83bn (£72bn) of extra capital by 2012, two leading teams of analysts warned yesterday. Barclays Capital analysts Jonathan Glionna and Miguel Crivelli said US banks Citigroup, Bank of [...]