Hats off to Bruce Packard, analyst at Seymour Pierce, for his trenchant views today on the bank stress tests - the results of which were published on Friday at 5pm. "No one at Seymour Pierce spent the weekend trawling through the European Bank Stress Tests," he writes. "For a start this would have violated the European Union Work Time Directive"... more
Bankers react angrily to Chancellor George Osborne's decision that High Street retail banking activities must be ring-fenced from riskier investment banking businesses... more
Questions about John Browett's plans to shake-up and turn around the Dixons Retail group are being asked in the City, as the company unveils a profits warning that sent the shares into near freefall... more
The bears are back in town. Shares in London are heavily sold-off - with the FTSE 100 index sinking back below the 6000 mark - as gloom descends on the Square Mile and Canary Wharf... more
WH Smith bolsters its High Street presence as it spends £1.05 million on 22 stores from the administrators of failed retailer British Bookshops and Stationers... more
SuperGroup, owner of the Superdry brand, shows it has shrugged off the problems hitting the rest of the retail sector with stellar Christmas figures
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Market round-up: Africa-focused explorer Bowleven — touted by countless Square Mile gossips as “the next Tullow Oil” — reveals that it found more crude at its exploration well in Cameroon, sending its shares… down 2%
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The new Bribery Act coming in to force next year means that invitations to the cricket, the football, the Olympics and more could be seen as bribery, say lawyers... more
Market Round-up: As Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares hit highs not seen since December 2008, one analyst warns that the strong run is unlikely to continue... more
Shares in taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland hit their highest point this year as the bank confirms it will reset the long-term bonuses of top executives at a more demanding price level... more
Investors betting on a new oil boom in the Falkland Islands are left feeling bruised after some exploratory drilling by a key industry player yielded poor results... more
Market Round-up: FTSE 250-listed Babcock International agrees a takeover of rival VT Group but the City’s rumourmongers believe it could receive a bid itself... more
Comment: In Carluccio’s the price of a meal is relatively low, but turnover is high. At Prezzo they charge a bit more but rely on customers eating at traditional hours. Which is the better investment?
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Stephen Hester has been making the rounds of the big City institutions and the word is that the Royal Bank of Scotland boss is far more optimistic in private than he has been in public... more
Could a bidder be circling for BG Group? The spotlight once again fell on the perennial takeover target today but this time it was BHP Billiton — the world’s biggest listed miner... more
Exclusive: After high-profile allegations this season, Charlton's manager is pleased the issue is now being addressed but says the authorities still have plenty of work to do
Morning:
9°c
