Deutsche Bank PWM appoints GIS head
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Deutsche Bank PWM appoints GIS head
The Private Wealth Management (PWM) division of Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Kevin Lecocq as MD and head of Global Investment Solutions (GIS).
He will bring with him decades of experience, and join from Barclays Wealth, where he served as chief investment officer and had a seat on the Management Committee.
Lecocq will be based [...]
Bank of America bolsters US Energy team
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Bank of America bolsters US Energy team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research has announced a brace of appointments to strengthen its US Energy team.
Douglas Becker and Gil Yang will report directly to Douglas Leggate, senior US integrated, exploration and production (E&P) and refining analyst.
Becker leaves behind SMH Capital, where he was senior analyst with the oil services and equipment team, [...]
Lloyds cuts 373 jobs with closure of Brighton centre
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds cuts 373 jobs with closure of Brighton centre
Lloyds Banking Group has announced the closure of its customer contact centre in Brighton, with the loss of 373 jobs.
It is understood that the Sussex House centre will shut in the Spring, with its work transferred to other Lloyds sites across the UK.
Referring to a planned headcount reduction at the group’s life and pensions’ administration [...]
Bank of China calls for corporate governance reform
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Bank of China calls for corporate governance reform
The Bank of China has called for reform of the internal systems and corporate governance structure of the Chinese banking sector.
Although the rising superpower’s financial sector did not show the defects of the West, nor suffer the same degree of loss, in the recent financial crisis, the Bank of China has called for reformation.
Chinese banks [...]
Consumer borrowing plummets as BS savings accounts raided
by Gill Montia
Story link: Consumer borrowing plummets as BS savings accounts raided
New figures from the Bank of England show consumer lending falling by a net £0.6 billion in October, with the decline well below the previous six month average of -£0.1 billion.
While credit card lending rose by £0.1 billion other loans and advances fell by £0.7 billion.
However, the Bank said the value of mortgages approved for [...]
Lloyds shareholders take legal action against Chancellor and BoE governor
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds shareholders take legal action against Chancellor and BoE governor
Shareholders of Lloyds Banking Group are taking legal action against Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.
Lloyds Action Now spokeswoman and former BBC Watchdog presenter, Alice Beer, says the group is proposing to ask the High Court to establish whether Mr King and Mr Darling have acted beyond their [...]
BBA CEO argues against kneejerk regulation
by Richard Kilner
Story link: BBA CEO argues against kneejerk regulation
Angela Knight, the chief executive officer of the British Banking Association, has warned against kneejerk reform of banking regulation by the UK or the EU.
Knight, who has previously worked as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, urged those considering reforms to look in detail at the possible impact of actions such as splitting up retail and [...]
RBS caps small business lending fees
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS caps small business lending fees
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) says it is making life easier for the UK’s small businesses by capping arrangement fees for loans and overdrafts, at 1.5%.
The bank, which has been criticised for failing to provide the credit agreed in return for taxpayer support, says it will provide the preferential terms for at least 12 months, [...]
Dubai crisis prompts central bank to offer extra liquidity
by Gill Montia
Story link: Dubai crisis prompts central bank to offer extra liquidity
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UEA) has announced that it is making additional liquidity available to commercial banks, including foreign banks, operating in the UAE.
The facility comes with an interest rate at 50 basis points above three months EIBOR (Emirates interbank offered rate).
The move is linked to debt problems at Dubai World, [...]
HMRC extends amnesty for offshore savers
by Gill Montia
Story link: HMRC extends amnesty for offshore savers
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has extended its amnesty for offshore savers.
The “Disclosure Opportunity”, which allows savers to settle up any outstanding tax, plus interest, plus a penalty of 10% of tax owed, now ends on 4th January 2010.
According HMRC, the extension from the previous cut off date of 30th November will give banks additional [...]
Deutsche Bank appoints new head of research
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Deutsche Bank appoints new head of research
Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Mayer as the new head of Deutsche Bank Research, with effect from 1 January 2010.
In addition Dr. Mayer will become chief economist, and he succeeds Professor Dr. Norbert Walter who is to retire from the bank at the end of 2009, following 22 years with the [...]
Only 23% of DB pension schemes open to new members
by Gill Montia
Story link: Only 23% of DB pension schemes open to new members
New figures from the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) show the extent to which the recession has continued to take its toll on private sector defined benefit (DB) schemes.
In its annual survey the body, which represents 1,200 UK workplace pension schemes, found that only 23% of schemes remain open to new members, compared to [...]
Collins Stewart appoints Corporate Broking chairman
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Collins Stewart appoints Corporate Broking chairman
Collins Stewart has announced the appointment of Roger Lambert as the chairman of the Corporate Broking division.
He brings with him over a quarter of a century of experience from his time at Cazenove and JP Morgan Cazenove in corporate finance.
Lambert will be directly responsible to Mark Brown, group chief executive officer, and will collaborate [...]
KCB Connect wins Innovation award
by Richard Kilner
Story link: KCB Connect wins Innovation award
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has won the Banking Innovation Award for the Year 2009 in recognition of its mobile phone banking service.
The award for the service, KCB Connect, was given to Dr. Tony Githuku, IT divisional director of the KCB.
The award was given in response to the KCB’s endeavours to lead the technological cutting edge [...]
IBB marks fifth year anniversary
by Richard Kilner
Story link: IBB marks fifth year anniversary
Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) will celebrate its fifth anniversary tomorrow, after it became Europe’s first stand alone Islamic retail bank in 2004.
The official celebrations of the bank coincide with Eid, Arabic for ‘festivity’, the second of the year (Eid-ul-Adha) that marks the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
To this day IBB is the [...]
Banks to be exposed on £1m plus pay deals
by Gill Montia
Story link: Banks to be exposed on £1m plus pay deals
The Walker Review is recommending that banks should be forced to make public the number of their employees paid over £1 million per year, although no individuals will be named.
The review, commissioned by the Government to improve the corporate governance of financial institutions, also wants non-executive directors of banks to be empowered to exert greater [...]
US tax authorities move in on UBS clients
by Gill Montia
Story link: US tax authorities move in on UBS clients
Over 500 clients of UBS are being warned that their account details could shortly be handed over to tax officials in the US.
In August, it emerged that US authorities were investigating over 150 clients of the Swiss investment bank in connection with tax evasion.
The figure came to light as a Florida court sentenced former UBS [...]
Banks have eight weeks to deal with a million complaints
by Gill Montia
Story link: Banks have eight weeks to deal with a million complaints
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that its waiver relating to complaints to banks over unauthorised overdraft charges, has lapsed.
The waiver was granted during the High Court test case brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) against seven banks and one building society, to establish the legality of the charges.
Following yesterday’s ruling in [...]
Recession encourages more saving and less debt
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Recession encourages more saving and less debt
The difficult economic climate is affecting the behaviour of British people towards savings and borrowing, according to research commissioned by database marketing and consumer insight firm KDB.
The survey shows that over half (56%) of Britons intend to cut their borrowing and almost half (45%) intend to bolster their savings, with the young particularly in favour [...]
Sberbank reports increasing profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Sberbank reports increasing profits
Sberbank has released its financial results for the first 10 months of 2009 so far.
The Russian banking institution saw pre-provisions operating income surge by 27.3% compared to the same period in 2008, with net interest income up 38.4% and net fee and commission income rising by 7.7%.
In addition the firm managed to slice 2.2% from [...]
