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Former bank bosses rehired

Wed, 19th Aug 2009 11:41

Banks have lost tens of billions of pounds over the past few years, so it's perhaps a little surprising that men held responsible for the credit crunch have found gainful employment at some of Britain's biggest companies.Back in May, Richard Burrows apologised for Bank of Ireland's £6.2bn full-year pre-tax loss and chose to stand down as governor of the bank."Accountability for these losses must be taken at the top," said Burrows, who eventually left the Irish company last month following a turbulent period which saw the bank relying on state funding to weather the downturn.But today, Lucky Strike cigarettes maker British American Tobacco picked the former chief executive of Irish Distillers, co-chief executive of Pernod Ricard and current non-executive director of Carlsberg as its new chairman.He'll take up his new role in November when current chairman Jan Du Plessis leaves to focus on chairing mining giant Rio Tinto.Other high profile bank chiefs, previously thought unemployable following the finance sector crash, have also got lucky.Andy Hornby, who led HBOS until his forced resignation in January following the takeover by Lloyds Banking, is now boss of private equity-owned Alliance Boots. HBOS lost £10.8bn in 2008.Sir Win Bischoff has also got a new job. The chairman of Schroders then of Citigroup has been confirmed as Lloyds' new chairman, replacing the outgoing Sir Victor Blank. City veteran Bischoff will take up his role at Lloyds, 43%-owned by the government, on 15 September. He was at Citi when the bank announced a fourth quarter loss of $8.29bn and 2008 deficit of $18.72bn. He left in February this year after chairing the bank since December 2007. It received a £326bn bail-out from the US Treasury in November last year after suffering huge losses due to the global financial crisis. Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin has not been as fortunate. The controversial Scot, in charge as the bank plunged to an annual loss of more than £24bn, has just returned from the French Riviera to his £3m Edinburgh home. There's talk of an image makeover for the 50-year-old who walked away with a £703,000 annual pension, later cut to £342,000, but it will probably take more than a creative image consultant to get Sir Fred back in the boardroom.
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18 Sep 2009 06:17

Friday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, BSkyB, African Minerals

Lloyds Banking Group has been forced to abandon its plan to withdraw from the Government's toxic debt insurance scheme after failing to raise enough capital to meet the Financial Services Authority's strict requirements. The decision dashes the hopes of Eric Daniels, chief executive, who wanted a w

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3 Jul 2009 17:12

London close: Stocks tread water

A late swoon saw Footsie relinquish virtually all of its gains, with losses on resource stocks counter-balancing gains made by banks. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking were the pick of the banking sector, despite chancellor Alistair Darling firing a warning about the re-eme

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3 Jul 2009 14:30

London afternoon: Banks lead the fight back

Share prices are creeping higher after yesterday's heavy falls, with banking stocks leading the fight back. Barclays, HSBA and Lloyds Banking lead the banking sector higher while insurers such as Aviva and Legal & General are also wanted. An exception to the general strength of insurers is Friends

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3 Jul 2009 12:02

London midday: Shares remain dull

Trading remains quiet in London, today after yesterday's excitement following dismal US unemployment figures. Friends Provident is the worst performing blue-chip as the market adjusts its share price to take account the demerger of its 52% stake in F&C Asset Management. Resource stocks are friendl

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3 Jul 2009 08:49

London open: Blue chips shrug off Wall St woes

London has shrugged off last night's collapse on Wall Street to trade higher in the absence of traders in the US, closed for Independence Day on Friday. The Dow Jones slumped more than 200 points Thursday as the market reacted badly to awful jobs data. Banks are a strong spot, despite chancellor A

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3 Jul 2009 07:38

London pre-open: Early buying forecast

London is promising to shrug off last night's collapse on Wall Street to trade higher in the absence of traders in the US, closed for Independence Day on Friday. The Dow Jones slumped more than 200 points Thursday as the market reacted badly to awful jobs data. The FTSE 100 is seen up about 8 point

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3 Jul 2009 07:19

Bank of Ireland under intense pressure

Ireland's premier bank, Bank of Ireland, has warned it is facing a squeeze on profit margins in addition to the huge impairment charges it will take this year and next. "Demand for new lending remains muted and the lower interest rate environment together with the impact on deposit pricing of more

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19 May 2009 09:34

Bank of Ireland chairman resigns, debt buyback

Bank of Ireland chairman Richard Burrows stepped down today after the bank slumped into losses for the year due to an increase in writedowns But shares moved ahead on a buyback programme, which will boost Tier 1 capital. The bank will purchase €1.4bn out of €3bn of debt. The group swung into loss

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