It's impossible for one institution to dominate London. The place is just too big. How different to, say, Dundee, home of marmalade and The Beano, and an agreeable enough town if you don't mind the Scottish weather. Finances there are dominated by the auld Alliance Trust. Such dominance has bred complacency... more
Prudential may face a few awkward questions from shareholders at its annual meeting in May after unveiling the chunky salaries of its board members following a year of turmoil... more
Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam, still reeling from the fallout of his failed $35 billion bid for AIA in Asia, moves to get back to basics with a strong set of results for the third quarter... more
City Comment: One of the great paradoxes of the insurance industry is that although it badly needs to consolidate, when it tries it usually fails and never seems to learn from the experience... more
M&G is one of the UK fund managers - Aberdeen and F&C are others - which has been round the block a few times and seen its share of booms and recessions. Such firms have a certain gravitas and credibility in spotting trends.... more
Lord Mandelson was asked at the Edinburgh International Book Festival if he would consider following Tony Blair by donating proceeds from his memoirs to charity... more
Goldman Sachs and Groupe Eurotunnel have brought in extra financial backers as they placed their consortium bid for Britain's only high-speed rail line which could raise at least £1.5 billion for the Treasury... more
City Comment: It matters not one jot whether Tidjane Thiam takes his Société Générale job or not - Pru shareholders just need to focus on the insurer's £23 billion Asian AIG deal... more
City Comment: Though the banks say they are lending as much as ever to the corporate sector, there appear to be a lot of companies that can’t get credit they want... more
Whitbread goes against the grain of its usual investment strategy, selling five of its Premier Inn properties for £36.5million through a sale and leaseback deal... more
He's been the top man at the Prudential for just two months but so far Tidjane Thiam could be forgiven for thinking that this chief executive lark is a doddle ... more
It's war. KPMG has just nabbed Rentokil’s lucrative contract for internal auditing from arch rival PricewaterhouseCoopers — by offering a 30% discount to the PwC price... more
UK equity funds delivered average returns of 3.2% in the first half, with M&G Group's Recovery Fund leading the way among the biggest players after it bet on Tullow Oil and Invensys.... more
Beleaguered former building society Bradford & Bingley today revealed that its £400 million bailout rights issue was rejected by more than seven out of 10 shareholders... more
While people are now beginning to understand how soaring fuel prices are destroying the airline industry, there is less awareness of the devastating effect it is having elsewhere and in particular how the energy sector faces a huge challenge... more
There was an audible sigh of relief across the City this morning: at last the authorities seem to have got their act together and quickly and efficiently saved a bank... 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:
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