The Government has been warned that the nationalisation of Northern Rock could cost the UK taxpayer up to £1.28 billion. The decision to nationalise the bank is now subject to a judicial review and via this process it has come to light that in February, Goldman Sachs made the Treasury aware that the nationalisation is [...]
Investment bank UBS has announced the appointment of Michael Willi to the position of chief communications officer. He succeeds Tom Hill, who will report to the chief financial officer in his new capacity as the leader of Group Strategic Advisory and Financial Communications. Willi becomes responsible for the firm’s corporate and brand communications, and will [...]
Personal debt in the UK has exceeded the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second successive 12 month period. Accountant, Grant Thornton, has been researching consumer debt and has revealed that the total amount owed via mortgages, loans and credit cards increased by 7.3% during the year to the end of June. The figure [...]
The world’s largest retail foreign exchange operator, Travelex, has secured a foreign exchange licence from the Chinese authorities. The award is the first of its kind to a foreign company and signals a move towards the liberalisation of China’s foreign currency market, which is currently dominated by national banks. It also presents significant growth opportunities [...]
HBOS’s Andy Hornby has become the victim of identity theft. A fraudster is believed to have obtained one of Mr Hornby’s bank statements and used it to impersonate the chief executive. Reports suggest that up to £7,000 was stolen from Mr Hornby’s accounts in the course of one day and that there is CCTV footage [...]
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has overtaken HSBC as the world’s most profitable bank. The group posted first-half net profit of $9.4 billion (£5.01 billion), up 57% on a year earlier. HSBC slipped from its leading position with net profit of $7.72 billion for the six months to the end of June, down [...]
Details of Alliance & Leicester’s (A&L) proposed sale to Spanish banking group, Santander, are being circulated to shareholders. The recommendation of acceptance of the offer by A&L’s board comes with a warning that the bank could fall prey to significant external risks if the deal is rejected. The bank’s profit for the six months to [...]
The Advanced Execution Services (AES) unit of investment bank Credit Suisse has become the first overseas broker to complete an equity trade for an external client on Indonesia’s Jakarta Stock Exchange. The deal went through utilising Direct Market Access (DMA), echoing an earlier deal in 2008 in Malaysia where Credit Suisse remains the only foreign [...]
Financial services firm Baird has announced that it has hired a trio of experienced wealth management professionals. James E. Furletti, senior vice president and branch manager, will spearhead the firm’s launching of its first wealth management offices in the greater Baltimore area. Furletti spent two decades with Legg Mason, prior to its merger with Smith [...]
Independent investment bank Greenhill & Co, Inc. has announced the appointment of James Flicker to the post of managing director. He has 20 years of industry experience, three-quarters of which is in the paper and forests sector. Flicker began his career as an analyst before becoming an investment banker with UBS and Citigroup. Flicker will [...]
Banking shares in the US and UK took a pounding today as the former head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the worst of the credit crunch may not have passed. Professor Kenneth Rogoff, who is now an economist at Harvard University, was speaking to an audience of delegates in Singapore when he predicted [...]
Evergreen Investments, the investment management brand of Wachovia Corporation, has announced a range of appointments in its municipal bond group. Mathew Kiselak, portfolio manager, is to take on responsibility for leading Evergreen’s municipal bond group. He brings more than 20 years of experience to his new job, and has been with Evergreen or its predecessors [...]
Today the Bank of Japan held its monthly Monetary Policy Meeting and chose to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%. The central bank has stated that Japan’s economic growth has remained stalled, due to the rising price of food and energy coupled with slow export growth. The bank forecasts sluggish growth in the [...]
Financial website, Moneyfacts.co.uk, has revealed that this month, interest rates on new personal loans have hit a six-year high. According to the website’s data, this time last year, the most competitive £5,000 loan year came with an interest rate of 6.3%. Twelve months on, the most competitive loan for the same amount is sporting an [...]
De Nederlandsche Bank has released figures showing that global financial turbulence is also affecting investment funds. The net worth of Dutch investment funds fell by 6% (5.1bn euros) in Q2 of 2008. It is the fourth consecutive quarter that has seen a fall in worth, which began during the birth of the subprime mortgage crisis [...]
In the wake of the collapse of the Doha World Trade Organisation talks, the president of the World Bank, Robert B. Zoellick, has issued a statement calling for the package to be recovered. Zoellick believes that it would damage developing nations and be an error of judgement for the world economy for the trade talks [...]
Baird Venture Partners (BVP) has announced the closure of its third venture fund (BVP III), with committed capital exceeding $170m. BVP, which is the US-based venture capital group of Baird Private Equity, had a target for BVP III of $150m, an objective which they achieved and then surpassed by more than 13%. The committed capital [...]
Bradford & Bingley’s (B&B) shareholders have taken up just 28% of the buy-to-let lender’s £400 million rights issue. Underwriters Citigroup and UBS, have been left with around 72% the stock, which they will need to place by Friday of this week, or take onto their balance sheets. B&B announced its cash call in May, only [...]
Wachovia has announced the appointment of Sridhar Chityala as head of the firm’s eCommerce division. Prior to joining the firm he served with Citi Cards as leader of the Telecommunications Business Unit. Earlier in his career he served as executive vice president of eBusiness with JPMorgan Chase, and has accumulated decades of industry experience during [...]
Nationwide Building Society has announced plans to set up a new business in the Irish Republic. The society says it is keen to diversify its geographical base and fund opportunities in the Republic. It will initially offer savings accounts that will be available online, by post and by telephone but as yet, there are no [...]
