Financial services
MF Global loss estimate revised upwards
Trustee puts gap owed to futures customers at $1.6bn, up from $1.2bn, partly because of a reclassification
Categories: Financial services
NYSE sets ‘full service’ clearing house for London
The group’s fledgling clearing house in London shares some of the clearing of Liffe futures exchange’s derivatives with LCH.Clearnet
Categories: Financial services
Fund chief arrested for insider trading
The head of Whitman capital has been charged with insider trading as part of the US government’s investigation into corruption on Wall Street
Categories: Financial services
ETF price war intensifies with new launches
A fresh round of price wars among ETF providers has broken out with fees for some of the fastest growing products being undercut by new launches from iShares.
Categories: Financial services
Apollo swings to $301m loss
Alternative asset manager reports a full-year loss as volatile markets hit the unrealised value of companies it owns
Categories: Financial services
XL reports Q4 and annual losses
XL Group plc has reported its financial results for the full-year and fourth quarter of 2011. The firm incurred a quarterly net loss of $515.5m, and an operating net loss of $79.6m. This compares to net income of $188.1m and an operating profit of $242.4m in the corresponding period last year and net income of [...]
Categories: Financial services
Cornish Mutual reveals weird insurance requests
Rural insurer Cornish Mutual has revealed that a Faberge egg collection, a helicopter and a village phone box are amongst the strangest objects for which it has been asked to provide insurance. The insurer has almost 24,000 members across the Westcountry, and has also been asked to insure a family of camels, medical glasses and [...]
Categories: Financial services
Barclays caps bonuses as profits dip
UK bank capped investment banking bonuses at £65,000, with the overall bonus pool at the division down by a third to £1.5bn
Categories: Financial services
CVC and Phoenix end takeover talks
Private equity group no longer in talks with FTSE 250 life assurer after disagreement on price, with the decision said to have been mutual
Categories: Financial services
Personal injury fast track limit increased to £25,000
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the Government’s extension of the limit for settling personal injury motor claims through the fast track process from £10,000 to £25,000. According to the ABI, the move means faster compensation pay-outs for an additional 55,000 people injured in road crashes each year. Around 97% of motor personal [...]
Categories: Financial services
NY Fed got $3.2bn from mortgage securities sale
Bundle of mortgage-related securities once owned by bailed-out insurance group AIG were sold to Credit Suisse in January
Categories: Financial services
Hargreaves warns on new business growth
UK retail investment broker says that the rate of new business growth slowed as small investors took fright at market volatility
Categories: Financial services
SVG strikes upbeat note for year
Shares in the private equity group rise by more than 9% after it reported a rise in net asset value and a £50m tender offer to buy back shares
Categories: Financial services
Catlin warns on disaster insurance rates
Lloyd’s of London insurer raises catastrophe-exposed prices after costliest year on record resulted in 82 per cent fall in pre-tax profits
Categories: Financial services
Libor probe will supply new anti-banking munitions
Pro-business commentators must reiterate that wholesale finance is not all legalised theft and that rascality is not a ‘sine qua non’ for employment
Categories: Financial services
Probe reveals scale of Libor abuse
Regulators are investigating how certain traders seemed to influence the movement of benchmark rates to profit from related derivatives
Categories: Financial services
Doughty Hanson buys Spanish hospital chain
Private equity group buys USP from RBS for €355m in deal that underlines how banks are out to sell assets they took over during the crisis
Categories: Financial services
CME to accept corporate bonds as collateral
A shortage of high-quality assets has forced the group’s clearing house to accept corporate bonds as collateral for swap trades from next month
Categories: Financial services
Court system faces shake-up
Under the new plans, lawsuits for claims below £100,000 will be heard in county courts, with complex personal injury cases still being heard in the High Court
Categories: Financial services
Bank lending probe lights up dark financial corners
Too often the quarry slips away for lack of evidence or of quotable sources, or because PR officials are waving libel laws in our face
Categories: Financial services
The Bottom Line:If Mr Cable has his way...
"If Mr Cable had his way, all the big banks would be broken up and bonuses would be virtually eliminated - a sure-fire way in my view of guaranteeing an end to the UK’s ability to compete as an international financial centre. Let’s not forget that this is a man who is on record as saying that everyone who works in a bank has an ‘aristocratic lifestyle’ clearly demonstrating his lack of understanding of the sector." A tough line on bankers’ bonuses could make a brain drain of financial talent a distinct possibility, warns Paul Marsden. Read more