Defender of business says a hung parliament would be disastrous February 7, 2010 HE MIGHT have parted company with the CBI four years ago, but Lord Digby Jones is still one of the staunchest defenders of the private sector. When he gives me his business card at the opening of a Vodafone store in the City, it is emblazoned with a motto that sums up his philosophy: “Only [...]
BGGroup’s poor results push FTSE100 to three week low October 28, 2009 BRITAIN’s top shares fell 2.3 per cent to hit a three-week closing low yesterday, dragged down by falls in energy stocks after BG Group posted a sharp drop in net profit, while miners tracked weaker metals. The market also came under pressure on data showing new US homes sales unexpectedly tumbled in September, their first [...]
It will be easy to lose money this year December 17, 2009 ONE of the great paradoxes of 2009 was that economic meltdown went hand in hand with strong gains for many investors. After a disastrous few months when everybody was pricing in the end of civilisation, stock markets bounced back, house prices started to rise again and many traders made vast returns. As I wrote yesterday, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 5, 2009 Association of British InsurersThe ABI has appointed Kerrie Kelly, currently chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), as its new director general, effective from next February. Kelly has led the ICA since 2006, having formerly been CEO of the country’s Financial Planning Association. She is currently a non-executive director at HSBC in Australia, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 5, 2009 Association of British InsurersThe ABI has appointed Kerrie Kelly, currently chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), as its new director general, effective from next February. Kelly has led the ICA since 2006, having formerly been CEO of the country’s Financial Planning Association. She is currently a non-executive director at HSBC in Australia, [...]
Caz set to cede power to JPMorgan November 15, 2009 BLUE-blooded stockbroker Cazenove is set to sell the remaining 50 per cent of its business to joint owner JP Morgan, in a bumper deal that will spark multi-million pound windfalls for its veteran former partners and star-performing current staff. Under the terms of a joint venture struck by the pair in 2004, JP Morgan has [...]
Myners meets with foreign banks October 13, 2009 Lord Myners, the treasury minister, will today hold a meeting over bonuses with the major foreign banks operating in the UK. He will urge them to agree to a “level playing field” over pay and bonuses. UK banks have already agreed on voluntary rules on remuneration, and have pledged greater transparency in the way they [...]
Founder of K1 under arrest October 29, 2009 GERMAN authorities placed Helmut Kiener, founder of Germany’s K1 hedge fund group, under arrest yesterday in a multi-million-dollar corruption probe of a Caribbean- registered fund he ran. His arrest warrant said Barclays and BNP Paribas may have lost millions of dollars in the case, which prosecutors say spanned the Atlantic and featured lavish personal spending [...]
People still value the personal touch from banks November 17, 2009 LAST week saw the launch of NatWest’s personal banking iPhone app, in line with the banking sector’s efforts to cut costs and improve user experience by moving their operations online. Recent YouGov research undertaken on behalf of Deloitte points to the risks in an online strategy: customers place high value on face-to-face interactions in their [...]
European shares in 3.3 per cent slump November 26, 2009 European shares slipped 3.3 per cent yesterday to record their biggest one-day percentage drop in seven months as concerns about debt problems in Dubai weighed on the market, with banks the major fallers. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 33.81 points at 988.14 – its lowest close in three weeks. “The [...]