Barclaycard is launching its biggest-ever outdoor marketing campaign which will also occupy space in the press and online. The campaign is accompanied by a new tagline, “Barclaycard Easier”, which apparently forms part of a wider strategy to build “relevance and consideration” among consumers. PR and social media elements are involved with “amazing experiences” for consumers [...]
Barclays has joined forces with Channel 4 Education to invite young people to decide how to spend £100,000 on projects that support communities. “The Stake” aims to inspire young people to use their business and enterprise skills to win prize money that will make a difference. Anyone aged 16 to 21 can submit their ideas, [...]
Equistone Partners Europe has agreed to acquire Barclays Private Equity (BPE) from Barclays Capital, in a management buyout deal. The move will result in Equistone taking over the management of BPE Funds I, II and III, in which Barclays itself will remain invested, alongside a range of global institutional investors. Equistone says it will build [...]
Barclays has signed up Aviva and Legal & General to provide life and general insurance products for its UK retail customers. Aviva’s existing general insurance offering with the bank will be complemented with life assurance and personal accident products, available on a non-advised basis. Customers will be able to choose life assurance, over 50s life [...]
Barclays Corporate has made two appointments to its trade and working capital team. Ray Zabarte joins as global head of trade and working capital product management. He moves from Standard Chartered where he was most recently in charge of receivables and local corporate product management. In his new role, Mr Zabarte will be responsible for [...]
Barclays has sold its Russian retail and commercial operations to investors including Igor Kim, who is recognised as one of Russia’s leading bankers – he already holds stakes in MDM and Orient Express Bank. The group announced its intention to offload Barclays Bank LLC in February but Barclays Capital will continue to operate in Russia [...]
Barclays has appointed Ian Ackerley as investments director, UK retail business banking, responsible for leading the development of integrated investment services. Mr Ackerley joins from Virigin Money where he was managing director of investments and pensions. Earlier this year, Barclays launched an enhanced online platform aimed at giving investors access to simple, jargon-free information and [...]
The European Commission has confirm that its officials have undertaken a number of “unannounced” inspections at companies active in the market for financial derivative products linked to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR). EURIBOR is one of the benchmarks for interest rates on loans between banks, and the Commission says it is responding to concerns [...]
Barclays Capital has become a member of the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE’s) Order Book for Retail Bonds (ORB). The electronic trading platform, launched only last year, should allow the firm to build on its presence as an arranger and distributor of retail bonds in the UK market. The firm also believes its membership of ORB [...]
Banks worldwide are focused on Asia as the number one region for growth, according to the annual Barclays Corporate Global Banking Survey. Africa is seen as providing “significant” growth opportunities, while the potential for growth in Europe and North America has become “very limited”. However, the majority (61%) of respondents expect the US dollar to [...]
“Banks occupy a unique position in our economy and enjoy privileges that other industries can never hope for.” The claim comes from the New Economics Foundation (NEF), which argues that the UK’s large banks are benefiting hugely from lower borrowing costs, which are only possibly because an implicit taxpayer guarantee means the markets view lending [...]
Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are listed among 17 financial institutions being sued by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBSs). The FHFA came into being in 2008 when US state-backed mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had to be rescued, and law [...]
Barclays Corporate has added to its string of recent appointments by hiring Chris Harrison as Head of UK MNC Trade Finance Origination. The lengthy job title means Mr Harrison is responsible for delivering trade and working capital solutions to multinational corporations. In particular, he will be developing cross-border parent subsidiary solutions. Joining from Lloyds TSB, [...]
Customer complaints are down 9% at Barclays, with new cases falling from 276,315 in the final six months of 2010, to 251,563 in the first half of 2011. However, in the general insurance and protection category, volumes increased 25% to 73,692 with payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints behind the surge. The group expects PPI volumes [...]
Commerzbank has reported its financial results for the second quarter and first six months of the year, which saw its Core Bank biannual operating profits rise, year-on-year, from €1.1bn to €2.1bn. Following the eurozone summit last month, the bank has set aside €760m in provisions against exposure to Greek bonds. In the first six months [...]
Barclays is offering emergency support to business and personal customers affected by riots. The bank says its business managers will be proactively contacting customers to assess any damage or disruption and offer solutions to ease cash flow problems, including repayment holidays of up to six months on some existing loans. Meanwhile, riot-struck personal customers with [...]
The Government has launched Big Society Capital (BSC), its promised social projects lender. Sir Ronald Cohen, the venture capital and social investment pioneer, has agreed to serve as unpaid interim chair, and Nick O’Donohoe, formerly global head of research at JP Morgan, will take the helm as chief executive officer. In addition to the £200 [...]
Barclays has launched the first bank-led UK infrastructure debt fund with the aim of broadening sources of finance backing UK infrastructure. The Senior Debt Infrastructure Fund I has a target size of £500 million and will invest in social infrastructure, economic infrastructure, renewable energy, electricity transmission and waste-to-energy senior debt executed by Barclays Corporate. Open [...]
Northern Trust has announced that it has successfully closed the acquisition of Omnium LLC from Chicago-based Citadel LLC. Omnium is a leading hedge fund manager with roughly $70bn in assets under management, and formally became a target for Northern Trust when the latter firm announced its intention to acquire Omnium on 16 May. Peter Cherecwich, [...]
Barclays Corporate has hired Filipe Oliveira to take on the role of relationship director, funds team. Based in London, Mr Oliveira’s focus will be on providing corporate and investment banking solutions to asset managers and funds across Western Europe. He brings significant experience in the funds area, most recently as a vice president at the [...]
Barclays appoints US investment representatives
Barclays has hired four investment representatives who will be based at the bank’s New York wealth and investment management division. Mark Leyton is joining as a managing director from Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management division, where he has been creating customised solutions for ultra-high net worth individuals, corporate executives and professional investors. Zach Shillingford, a [...]
Northern Trust appoints Middle East chief
Northern Trust has announced the appointment of Sheldon Woldt to the position of Middle East head. Woldt, who is tasked with fostering growth in the region, will collaborate with the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional management as he seeks to expand the firm’s presence in the Middle East. Woldt will move from Chicago [...]
BayernLB reports declining Q1 profits
The BayernLB Group has reported that in the first quarter of 2012 the firm made a pre-tax profit of €54m. This is around a third the €149m it made during the corresponding period last year, but the first quarter also saw an increase in difficulties relating to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. The Corporates and [...]
UK households braced for higher inflation
In its latest MoneyMood survey, Legal & General found that nine out of 10 respondent households expect inflation to be higher, or to remain at today’s level (3.5%), over the next 12 months. Only one in 10 households were hopeful that inflation would ease and more than half thought that inflation would be higher than [...]
FSA fines Habib Bank over anti-money laundering failures
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Habib Bank AG Zurich £525,000 and its former money laundering reporting officer, Syed Itrat Hussain, £17,500 over failures in anti-money laundering systems and controls. Habib is a privately-owned Swiss bank with twelve branches in the UK and approximately 15,500 customers. At the time of the FSA’s investigations, around [...]
