Diamond adds to disquiet over possible bonus tax
8th Dec 2009 14:18
Bob Diamond, Barclays president and one of the highest paid bankers in the UK, has claimed the imposition of a bonus tax would be against the remuneration principles agreed at the G20 meeting held in September. His comments come just a day after the chancellor told him and a group of other senior b
Read moreLondon close: Lower finish for FTSE 100
7th Dec 2009 16:59
Footsie staged a recovery after a poor start early on and edged into positive territory in the afternoon but closed slightly lower. Rumours of a windfall tax in Wednesday's pre-Budget report rattled the banks. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, Barclays and HSBC fell on suggestions that the Ch
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks slide on tax fears
7th Dec 2009 14:39
Leading shares recouped some of their losses over the lunchtime trading session but the Footsie remains in negative territory, largely due to the weakness of banks and miners. Rumours of a windfall tax in Wednesday's pre-Budget report has rattled the banks. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, B
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie rally fizzles out
7th Dec 2009 12:07
Footsie is going nowhere at present with the banks and miners sending the leading share index lower. Miners are under pressure with the improvement in the dollar. Better than expected US non-farm payroll figures last week have sparked speculation that the US could start to tighten monetary policy s
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks in demand
3rd Dec 2009 18:06
Barclays was wanted after the Telegraph reported that it is set to award its 22,000 investment bankers pay rises of up to 150%. Lloyds Banking was also higher, as was Royal Bank of Scotland. Market makers initially marked RBS lower on news that that the bank's board is threatening to resign en mas
Read moreLondon close: Miners eclipse banks to send index lower
3rd Dec 2009 16:35
London closed on a low note as a good day for bank shares was offset by dips for the miners and oil groups. Banking shares marched forward despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view
Read moreSector movers: Bearish Goldman fails to dent banks
3rd Dec 2009 12:37
The banking sector has shrugged off a bearish note from Goldman Sachs to post good gains. The broker downgraded the sector to 'neutral' following its recent strong showing, saying that large global retail banks are likely to be the stocks to hold in the sector. Barclays is wanted after the Telegra
Read moreLondon midday: Shares lack direction
3rd Dec 2009 12:11
Banking shares are still marching forward but gains are countered by weakness among miners, despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view of banks today, having downgraded the sector to
Read moreLondon open: Banks lead risers, RBS down
3rd Dec 2009 08:21
Barclays and Lloyds are leading London's top stocks higher in early dealings on Thursday, though Royal Bank of Scotland is an exception. RBS has dropped on news that that the bank's board is threatening to resign en masse if Alistair Darling will veto the group's £1.5bn bonus pot. On the positive
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up:RBS, Barclays, BofA
3rd Dec 2009 06:21
Alistair Darling is heading for a potentially disastrous showdown with Royal Bank of Scotland over plans to pay £1.5bn in bonuses to its staff. Darling is to be granted the right to veto bonus payments at the bank, which will soon be 84% owned by the taxpayer, but has been warned that doing so could
Read moreLondon close: Miners push Footsie higher
2nd Dec 2009 17:09
Despite being weighed down by a number of ex-dividend stocks, Footsie finished the day in positive territory, with gains on miners outweighing losses on banks. With metals prices hardening, miners were in demand. Lonmin was the best performer after being raised to 'buy' by Investec, which also upgr
Read moreBroker tips: Barclays, Sage, Brewin Dolphin
2nd Dec 2009 13:21
UK banks have been under the cosh since news of the Dubai debt situation broke last week but their shares are still not cheap enough, according to Credit Suisse. 'UK bank share prices have fallen 10% in the last two weeks, but we calculate that they still imply long-term ROTE [return on tangible eq
Read moreBroker snap: Barclays best of a bad bunch
2nd Dec 2009 13:19
UK banks have been under the cosh since news of the Dubai debt situation broke last week but their shares are still not cheap enough, according to Credit Suisse. 'UK bank share prices have fallen 10% in the last two weeks, but we calculate that they still imply long-term ROTE [return on tangible eq
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotand, Barclays, Mitchells & Butlers
2nd Dec 2009 06:32
Alistair Darling was heading for a clash with the City's biggest institutional shareholders last night after the Treasury seized control of the bonus pool at Royal Bank of Scotland. Institutional investors raised concerns about RBS's ability to compete with rivals after the Treasury demanded the ri
Read moreBarclays completes £9.5bn BGI sale
1st Dec 2009 17:39
Barclays has completed the sale of its Barclays Global Investors (BGI) business to investment manager BlackRock for $15.2bn (£9.5bn). The deal, announced on 12 June, was partly paid for with 37.6m Blackrock shares, which gives UK bank Barclays a 19.9% stake in the US firm. Barclays said it expects
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