London office rents make record recovery since the crash October 25, 2015 The City office market is in record health, according to research from Knight Frank that shows rents have made a speedier recovery since the 2007 crisis than following previous financial downturns. In its latest report, the upmarket estate agent has tracked how rents in the Square Mile have fared since their pre-crisis peak in the fourth [...]
Guy Hands stands firm as Terra Firma braces for Four Seasons battle with creditors October 25, 2015 Guy Hands’ Terra Firma remains defiant in the face of reports that creditors and hedge funds are circling beleaguered care-home provider Four Seasons. Four Seasons Healthcare, Britain’s largest care-home operator, with more than 20,000 elderly residents was Terra Firma’s largest investment since its purchase of EMI, but it is struggling with interest payments of more than [...]
Analysts expect RBS to announce more growth in capital buffers this week October 25, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to announce further growth in its core capital buffers later this week, fuelling speculation over when the bank will pay its first dividend since the financial crisis. Analysts at Bernstein Research expect RBS to announce on Friday that its core capital buffers grew to 12.6 per cent in [...]
Challenger bank Virgin Money replaces KPMG with PwC as auditors for 2016 October 25, 2015 Virgin Money announced on Friday that it is appointing PwC as auditor, provided shareholders approve of the move at the 2016 annual meeting. The appointment of PwC will replace the Virgin Money’s current auditors, KPMG, who have audited the bank since 2004. In Virgin Money’s notification of change of auditors, Norman McLuskie, chairman of Virgin [...]
Canada police are training Standard Chartered bankers to catch fraudsters October 25, 2015 Canada police has started a programme to train bankers to fight fraud, starting with Standard Chartered who will be descending on the City this week. The programme was designed to standardise investigative techniques within Standard Chartered's multitude of regional offices. Kathy Hearn, director of the Economic Crime Academy, which has helped design the [...]
Investec: Lloyds Banking Group will post a £2.3bn profit this week October 25, 2015 Lloyds Banking Group is expected to post a rise in quarterly profits on Wednesday, in its first set of results since chancellor George Osborne announced that retail investors would be able to buy shares of the bailed-out bank at a discount next year. Citing “modest revenue growth, lower costs and potentially no charge at all for [...]
Barclays suffers”technical issues” as some customers are unable to access cash October 25, 2015 Barclays has suffered technical problems which have prevented customers from accessing their accounts. The bank told customers on Twitter that it was experiencing issues with some of its services on Saturday morning, but still had "high volumes of customers" calling on Sunday morning. We’re currently still seeing high volumes of customers calling us this morning, please [...]
TalkTalk cyber attack: IoD calls cybercrime “one of biggest threats facing businesses” October 24, 2015 The Institute of Directors (IoD) has called cybercrime one of the “biggest threats facing businesses”, and urged companies to work with the government to tackle it. Oliver Parry, a senior corporate governance adviser at the IoD, told the BBC cyber attacks “happen constantly” at UK companies. "The risks need to reviewed regularly by the board [...]
Sainsbury’s experiments with futuristic store formats, including faster checkouts, a SmartShop map of your shopping list and a focus on clothes October 23, 2015 You may never have to hear the phrase "unexpected item in the bagging area" again. Sainsbury's said today it's experimenting with futuristic new "SmartShop" technology, which will allow shoppers to scan their shopping lists at home, be shown a map of their items on their smartphone – and then pay by mobile app, meaning they don't have to queue [...]
Facebook shares have tipped over $100 a share for the first time ever October 23, 2015 Facebook shares have edged over the $100 per share mark for the first time ever today. Shares were trading 1.03 per cent up at $100.70 per share in mid-morning trading in New York. Earlier in the day Facebook's stock rose 2.5 per cent to $102.15 per share. Facebook's IPO price was $38 a share. Read more: Facebook's iOS app is [...]
