Til divorce do us part: advice for couples considering separation January 16, 2020 Christmas is meant to be a relaxing time, but for many people it’s also a period of stress, tension, and tribulations — especially for married couples. The financial burden of the holidays plus the pressure to have a “perfect Christmas” and the familiar strain of dealing with in-laws can lead to squabbles and even full-blown [...]
Financial Conduct Authority looking into Muddy Waters short attack on Burford Capital August 12, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it is making “wide-ranging enquiries” into the circumstances surrounding the publication of a shortselling report on Burford Capital by Muddy Waters. US shortseller Muddy Waters launched a short attack on the litigation finance company last week, tweeting that it would shortly be announcing a new short position before [...]
Rising Risk (Part II): Tech bubble take two October 9, 2019 In this second instalment of a two-part article, Sebastien Canderle says many tech start-ups are deploying a bagful of tricks to massage their numbers I have already laid out my thoughts here on CFA Institute Talk on the topic of the innovative financial engineering for which many buyout experts have become associated – for example, [...]
Burford Capital alleges ‘market manipulation’ ahead of Muddy Waters short attack August 12, 2019 Burford Capital said it has identified evidence consistent with “illegal market manipulation” of its shares in the run up to a short attack on the company by Muddy Waters. The litigation finance company said it had analysed trading data from the 6 and 7 August with the help of a market manipulation expert, and had [...]
Muddy Waters accuses Burford Capital of deceiving investors August 27, 2019 Shortseller Muddy Waters blasted litigation funder Burford Capital again today, saying the company “is not worthy of an Aim listing, let alone a US one”. The shortseller’s first attack on Burford earlier this month wiped 40 per cent from the company’s share price. Today Muddy Waters reiterated its criticism of Burford’s conduct in relation to [...]
Going for broke(rs): Student takes job hunt to Moorgate station for his big break in finance August 8, 2019 A university student trying to get his start in London’s financial district took matters into his own hands this week when he spent 11 hours stood outside Moorgate station holding a placard asking the capital’s brokers to give him a chance. “It’s not where I’m coming from, it’s where I’m going,” read Imperial College London [...]
Burford Capital ditches finance chief in response to activist pressure August 15, 2019 Under-fire litigation funder Burford Capital today announced it would appoint a new chief financial officer and seek a US listing following last week’s attack from shortseller Muddy Waters. Burford said its chief finance officer Elizabeth O’Connell will be replaced by Jim Kilman, formerly vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking, with immediate effect. O’Connell is [...]
City Moves for 15 April 2019 – Who’s switching jobs at Herbert Smith Freehills, Trussle and Osborne Clarke? April 15, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Herbert Smith Freehills, Trussle and Osborne Clarke. Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills partner Chris Bushell has been elected as the new vice-president of The London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA). Chris, who is also the organisation’s membership secretary, is a former member of the Junior LSLA Committee and has been actively [...]
Four things we learned from Barclays results October 25, 2019 Barclays delivered a mixed set of results for the third quarter today, with strong performance in its controversial investment bank outweighed by a massive £1.4bn PPI claims hit. These are the top four takeaways from Barclays results today. Barclays was not expecting PPI ‘avalanche’ Barclays otherwise strong third quarter results were torpedoed by a whopping [...]
HSBC sued for £150m in relation to Disney tax avoidance scheme February 18, 2019 HSBC Private Bank is being sued for £150m by over 400 investors in connection with a film financing scheme that purported to invest money in Disney blockbusters for tax benefits. Investors, including ex-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and ex-England managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Glenn Hoddle, lost out after tax authorities ruled that the film [...]