KfW Bankengruppe has emerged from two years in the red and returned to the black in 2009, which saw the bank record a consolidated profit of €1.1bn. In 2008 the firm recorded a consolidated loss of €2.7bn, meaning that 2009 saw it achieve an improvement of around €3.8bn. Total assets rose from €395bn to €400bn, [...]
Boutique investment bank ThinkEquity LLC has announced that it has hired Deepak Raj to serve the firm as executive vice president. He began his career with Merrill Lynch, where he established a leading consumer products franchise. Latterly he served Merrill Lynch as senior vice president, and director of Global Equity Research. Raj will assume responsibility [...]
Swiss investment bank UBS has announced the appointment of Lukas Gähwiler to the posts of chief executive officer of UBS Switzerland, and co-chief executive officer of Wealth Management & Swiss Bank. Until February this year Gähwiler was under contract to Credit Suisse, where he had spent 20 years of his career, most recently as chief [...]
Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM) is to merge with Bradford & Bingley. The Government is proposing to create a holding company that will contain the state-owned remnants of the lenders, which have been split into “good” and “bad” banks. B&B’s retail deposit book and branch network was acquired by Santander in September 2008, with the [...]
Investec has closed its High 5 savings account to new customers. The private bank has also applied an upper limit of £100,000 on balances for existing customers. It is understood that those with savings above the new limit will be able to maintain their balances but cannot rebuild their savings above it once they dip [...]
Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of John Utendahl as vice chairman of Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp. He brings almost three decades of experience to the firm, including 18 years as chairman of the Utendahl organisation following the founding in 1992 of Utendahl Capital Partners, L.P. (UCP). Utendahl will be based in New York [...]
The day after Chancellor Alistair Darling delivered the final Budget before the election, TMA (UK) has warned that nothing he said will address the liquidity problems facing Britain’s struggling businesses. Director Tyrone Courtman has described the £94bn target for new loans from part-nationalised banks Lloyds Banking Group and RBS as a red herring which is [...]
Following the Budget, the last to be delivered by Chancellor Alistair Darling prior to the impending election, Lloyds Banking Group has welcomed the increased limits on ISAs. The new ISA limit has been raised to £10,200, half of which (£5,100) can be in cash. In the future, the ISA limit will rise in line with [...]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has announced the appointment of Hayley Boesky as vice chairman of Global Markets. She joins the firm from Federal Reserve Bank of New York where she has worked for three years as a senior officer and director of Market Analysis. Boesky’s role, which is newly created, will see her tasked [...]
Santander Savings reckons the average British saver is putting away £219 each month. The total is up 34% on this time last year, bringing the amount saved over the past twelve months to around £59.4 billion. According to the Spanish bank, over 28 million people in the UK have cash savings, with the average balance [...]
Coventry Building Society has announced that it has agreed merger terms with Stroud & Swindon Building Society. The move will combine the UK’s third and eleventh largest building societies and the resultant mutual, which will be called Coventry Building Society, will have around 1.5 million members and assets of £21.1 billion. Coventry recently reported pre-tax [...]
Investment bank Credit Suisse has announced the appointment of Federico Imbert as chief executive officer of Credit Suisse in Italy. He leaves behind JP Morgan, Chase & Co, where he has spent his entire career of 36 years, to join Credit Suisse. Imbert will be based in Milan, gain a seat on the EMEA Operating [...]
Leading private bank Coutts & Co has announced the appointment of Michael Hayman to the post of regional chairman, with responsibility for entrepreneurs. In his new role Hayman will act as an ambassador for the bank, collaborating closely with its increasing entrepreneur clientele. Hayman is co-founder of PR consultancy Seven Hills, and is a leading [...]
Banks are to be legally obliged to provide a basic bank account to UK citizens, the BBC has reported. Plans to be announced in Wednesday’s Budget will be aimed at helping the 1.75 million Britons who are regarded as “financially excluded” because they have no access to a basic account. Applicants will need to have [...]
Lazard Ltd has announced that Chief Financial Officer Michael J. Castellano is to retire from his post on 31 March. Castellano has been chief financial officer of the firm since August 2001, and before joining Lazard held numerous senior posts with Merrill Lynch & Co. Matthieu Bucaille, who presently serves as Deputy Chief Executive Officer [...]
When Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling delivers his Budget on Wednesday, he is expected to unveil plans for a “green bank” that will focus on investing in environmental schemes. According to reports, the £2 billion project will be set up with £1 billion provided from the sale of government assets, in the hope that [...]
Standard Chartered has announced the appointment of V. Shankar as chief executive officer of the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Europe. He succeeds Gareth Bullock, who retires from the Board of Standard Chartered PLC on 30 April. Shankar will retain his present roles as Principal Finance executive chairman and Private Bank co-chairman, as well [...]
Virgin Money is reported to be preparing a first-round bid for the 318 branches that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) needs to divest to comply with EU competition rules. The group, which earlier this year acquired private bank, Church House Trust, as a spring-board into the UK retail banking sector, is understood to have hired [...]
Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has suggested that a much tougher approach is needed to get banks lending to the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises. Addressing the Federation of Small Businesses’ annual conference in Aberdeen last week, he proposed that firms that have been turned down for finance by their local bank manager should be able [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is proposing a major investigation into investment banking profits, The Times has reported. According to the newspaper, the watchdog will be looking in particular at the levels of competition in investment banking fees for mergers, acquisitions and the underwriting of share and bond issues. Prior to the credit crisis, [...]
