Results tagged “banks”
Rising impairment charges limited profits at Barclays in the third quarter as the shadow of write-downs continues to hang over banks.
The bank reported on Tuesday that charges had surged to £6.2billion in the first nine months of the year, more than two thirds more than at the same point last year.
The fallout from the banking crisis has thrown the industry's problems into stark relief, not least regulation.
The British Government has vowed to crack down on the return of excessive bonuses and risky practices that precipitated the credit crunch, but implementing tighter unilateral regulation could be difficult.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling was in Canary Wharf this morning and used the opportunity to criticize the return of the bonus culture.
Mr Darling singled out Goldman Sachs, which reported bumper profits last week, saying it sent out the "wrong signals" with huge pay awards.
Confidence is returning to the financial recruitment to sector according to one of the industry's leading companies.
Despite bad news on national unemployment figures, put at 2.38million last week, financial recruitment specialists Joslin Rowe is now seeing that trend being bucked in the banking sector.
Banking bonuses are back on the agenda but some Wharf-based institutions are taking a different approach to recruiting and keeping the best talent.
Citigroup announced last month they would be increasing basic salaries for staff by 50 per cent to offset reduced bonuses.
Morgan Stanley is set to quit one of its Canary Wharf offices.
The investment bank will give up 345,000sq ft of space at 20 Cabot Square from February 1 next year according to Songbird Estates, the parent company of Canary Wharf Group.
THE CREDIT crisis could force the UK’s financial sector to shed at least 10,000 jobs in the next three months.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) predicts the country will dodge a full recession, but the squeeze in credit markets will force Wharf companies to trim their workforces. The forecast comes after UK firms reported another sharp drop in business from January to early March this year.
CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty said: “It is clear that the credit crunch has worsened over the first three months of this year.
“We can expect further tough times in the financial sector, and as this feeds through into the wider economy it will inevitably be felt through slower economic growth this year and next.�
