Coutts bolsters presence in Essex
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Coutts bolsters presence in Essex
Coutts & Co in Essex has bolstered its private banking team with a brace of senior appointments.
Stewart Sanderson and John Hughes join the firm, as client partner and private banker respectively.
Sanderson will be tasked with spearheading the expansion of Coutts in Essex and assume responsibility for key clients.
Prior to joining Coutts he worked for Nat [...]
FSA makes board appointment
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA makes board appointment
Margaret Cole has been appointed to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Board, as managing director of enforcement and financial crime.
The announcement has been made by HM Treasury and takes effect from 7th September 2010.
Ms Cole joined the FSA in 2005 following 20 years in private practice, specialising in commercial litigation.
Managing a division of [...]
Credit Suisse appoints Asia Pacific CEO and chairman
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Credit Suisse appoints Asia Pacific CEO and chairman
Investment bank Credit Suisse has announced the appointment of Osama Abbasi as chief executive officer of the Asia Pacific region.
Abbasi, whose appointment is effective from 1 October, will also take up a seat on the Executive Board and report directly to Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan.
Effective from the same date, Kai Nargolwala will become [...]
HSBC chairman to move into politics
by Gill Montia
Story link: HSBC chairman to move into politics
HSBC chairman, Stephen Green, is stepping down to take up the post of trade minister with the Coalition Government.
Aged 61, Mr Green joined HSBC in 1982, serving as group chief executive from 2003 to 2006 before moving on to group chairman.
The new comes alongside Barclays’ announcement that chief executive John Varley is to be replaced [...]
Bob Diamond to take the helm at Barclays
by Gill Montia
Story link: Bob Diamond to take the helm at Barclays
Bob Diamond is to take over as chief executive of Barclays, replacing John Varley.
Mr Diamond, who is currently president of Barclays PLC and chief executive officer of the group’s Corporate and Investment Banking and Wealth Management units, is acknowledged as one of the world’s most successful bankers.
The move reflects Barclays’ triumphs as an investment bank; [...]
Ministers call time on Anglo Irish bank
by Gill Montia
Story link: Ministers call time on Anglo Irish bank
Anglo Irish Bank is to be “decommissioned”, Reuters has reported.
According to the news agency, the Irish Government is approaching the European Commission for permission to close the nationalised lender, after an appropriate period of winding down.
However, the bank’s chief executive, Mike Aynsley, told Ireland’s Sunday Business Post that ministers are taking the wrong course, suggesting [...]
Barclays to create 600 jobs in Glasgow
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays to create 600 jobs in Glasgow
Barclays is creating up to 600 jobs in Glasgow as it establishes a new centre for its investment banking and wealth management operations.
The move, which will take the number of the bank’s employees in the city to over 2,000, is being supported with more than £6.5 million in Regional Selective Assistance Funding from Scottish Enterprise.
The [...]
Metro Bank upbeat on first month’s trading
by Gill Montia
Story link: Metro Bank upbeat on first month’s trading
Metro Bank has made a promising start to life in the UK’s retail banking sector, with customers reportedly pouring into its first branch, in Holborn.
The venture, founded by Anthony Thomson, chairman of the Financial Services Forum, and Vernon Hill, who set up Commerce Bancorp in the US, hopes to get ahead of the competition with [...]
Wells Fargo appoints chief administrative officer
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Wells Fargo appoints chief administrative officer
Wells Fargo & Company has announced the appointment of Tim Sloan as the firm’s chief administrative officer.
The newly created position will see Sloan directly responsible to President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John G. Stumpf.
In turn, the Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility, Enterprise Marketing, Government Relations and Human Resources functions will all report, with immediate [...]
Brewin Dolphin appoints Shrewsbury quartet
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Brewin Dolphin appoints Shrewsbury quartet
Independent private client investment manager Brewin Dolphin has announced the expansion of its Shrewsbury branch.
A trio of divisional directors (Andrew Barr, Verity Criddle and William Eyre) bolster the Shrewsbury team, as does Assistant Director Rupert Harvey.
In addition to the 70 years’ worth of experience the branch benefits from with their appointment, it will also be [...]
RBS to cut 3,500 UK jobs
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS to cut 3,500 UK jobs
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to cut 3,500 UK jobs as it closes up to 12 offices and completes the sale of 318 branches (as required by the EU Competition Commission) to Santander.
The 84% state-owned group is continuing a restructure having already reduced its headcount by around 4,000 last year.
According to a BBC report, [...]
Northern trust appoints Netherlands’ country head
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Northern trust appoints Netherlands’ country head
Northern Trust has announced the appointment of Wim van Ooijen as country head of Northern Trust The Netherlands.
Van Ooijen succeeds Eric Pouwels, who vacates the role to take up his new post as director of Strategic Development for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
He has been with the firm for six years, and previously [...]
Deutsche Bank appoints Kazakhstan chief
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Deutsche Bank appoints Kazakhstan chief
Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Ulf Wokurka as chief country officer in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He brings more than two decades of banking experience to his new position, including 16 years occupying senior management positions within Deutsche Bank.
Wokurka has worked in London, New York and Central and Eastern Europe and established the bank’s [...]
Morgan Stanley appoints Taiwan CEO
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Morgan Stanley appoints Taiwan CEO
Morgan Stanley has announced the appointment of Sean Chao as the firm’s new chief executive officer of Taiwan.
The appointment of Chao, who is to be based in Taipei, is part of a strategic move by the bank to consolidate and build upon its success in Taiwan.
Chao brings extensive experience of Taiwanese banking to his new [...]
Santander admits to customer service failing
by Gill Montia
Story link: Santander admits to customer service failing
Santander has issued a formal apology to UK customers who have experienced poor levels of service.
The Spanish banking group, which has undertaken a spate of acquisitions in the UK in recent years (namely Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley’s savings book) has admitted to basic failures in setting up accounts and processing customer [...]
BB&T appoints general counsel
by Richard Kilner
Story link: BB&T appoints general counsel
BB&T Corporation has announced the appointment of Robert J. Johnson Jr. as the firm’s new general counsel, corporate secretary and chief corporate governance officer.
Johnson, who assumes his new position with effect from 1 September, has been BB&T’s deputy general counsel and manager of the corporate, securities, tax (CST) practice group for the last two years.
Administrative [...]
Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to close by year end
by Gill Montia
Story link: Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to close by year end
Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BoSI) is closing its doors and will cease to operate as a licensed bank on 31st December 2010.
The bank has been trading as Halifax in the Republic of Ireland for four years but a strategic review by parent company, Lloyds Banking Group, concluded “there was little opportunity for scalable growth in [...]
Job vacancies up 7% in London’s financial services
by Gill Montia
Story link: Job vacancies up 7% in London’s financial services
Financial services vacancies in London rose 7% in July, compared with June, according to Morgan McKinley.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, the recruitment specialist’s Andrew Evans revealed that July saw the second-highest level of hiring activity in the City since August 2008.
According to Mr Evans, the trend illustrates that the London jobs market for professionals [...]
FSA’s uncertain future produces staff exodus
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA’s uncertain future produces staff exodus
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has seen an “exodus” of staff in the past year, with resignations up 128%.
According to Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC), 121 FSA staff resigned in the second quarter of 2010, 128% more than in the same period of 2009, when 53 staff left.
The new government is proposing to break up the [...]
Former Standard Chartered head to promote women in the boardroom
by Gill Montia
Story link: Former Standard Chartered head to promote women in the boardroom
The Government has appointed Lord Davies of Abersoch to develop a business strategy to increase the number of women on the boards of UK listed companies.
Research from Cranfield University has highlighted a lack of female directors in Britain’s top businesses, with women making up only 12.2% of directors of the FTSE 100 companies in [...]
