By Ian Fraser Sunday Herald February 26th, 2006 WHEN Archie Kane was drafted in as Scottish Widows’ chief executive in September 2003, the life company was in turmoil. Parent bank Lloyds TSB had just dumped Scottish Widows’ long-serving boss Mike Ross, while a £1.9 million fine for mis-selling “precipice bonds” from the Financial Services Authority [...]
By Ian Fraser Sunday Herald February 12th, 2006 FUND MANAGEMENT: INVESTMENT BURDEN: Experts fear directive could jeopardise Scottish jobs and fail to streamline securities trading SWEEPING new laws aimed at boosting cross-border competition in Europe threaten to bump up the UK investment industry’s costs by more than £1 billion and jeopardise hundreds of jobs in [...]
By Ian Fraser Published: Sunday Herald Date: February 5th, 2006 DEMAND EXCEEDING SUPPLY A MARKED downturn in North Sea oil production means that the UK will become a net importer of oil at least three years earlier than the government anticipates, according to new figures from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Even the contribution from [...]
By Ian Fraser Sunday Herald February 5th, 2006 THE ROYAL Bank of Scotland is mounting an aggressive push into the UK mortgage market in a bid to double its share and see off new entrants Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. In a strategic U-turn, RBS aims to leapfrog Lloyds TSB, Abbey, Nationwide and Northern Rock [...]