Wall Street Journal (February 7)
“Luxury retailers, flush with cash, are spending big on real estate in the world’s most expensive and exclusive shopping corridors” including New York’s Fifth Avenue, Avenue Montaigne in Paris, and London’s New Bond Street. The “shopping spree shows that retailers are using their considerable cash to free themselves from the control of landlords and plant their flags on streets where they want a long-term presence.”
Tags: Avenue Montaigne, Cash, Exclusive, Expensive, Fifth Avenue, Flush, Landlords, London, Luxury retailers, New Bond Street, New York, Paris, Real estate, Shopping corridors
Investment Week (July 31)
“British American Tobacco is resisting shareholder pressure to move its primary listing from London to New York.” Others haven’t. “The London Stock Exchange has seen a string of departures this year, as companies flee from cheap valuations towards the deeper investor pool the US market offers.”
Tags: BAT, Cheap valuations, Companies, Departures, Flee, Investor pool, London, LSE, New York, Primary listing, Resisting, Shareholder pressure, U.S.
BBC (May 24)
“Climate protesters stormed Shell’s annual shareholder meeting in London, with security having to step in to protect board members.” The protestors, activists and other “campaign groups are looking to ramp up the pressure on Shell and other energy companies to bring forward those targets to absolute carbon emissions cuts by 2030 and focus more resources on renewables.” The proposed targets were, however, “rejected in a vote by shareholders at the meeting.”
Tags: 2030, Activists, Annual meeting, Board members, Carbon emissions, Climate, Energy, London, Pressure, Protect, Protesters, Rejected, Renewables, Resources, Security, Shell, Targets, Vote
BBC (November 15)
“Britain’s stock market has lost its position as Europe’s most-valued,” marking “the first time Paris has overtaken London since records began…. The combined value of British shares is now around $2.821 trillion (£2.3 trillion), while France’s are worth around $2.823 trillion.” Factors behind the shift include “a weak pound, fears of recession in the UK and surging sales at French luxury goods makers.”
Tags: $2.823 trillion, Britain, Europe, Fears, First, France, London, Most-valued, Overtaken, Paris, Recession, Records, Shares, Stock market, Surging sales, UK, Weak pound
Financial Times (September 5)
“The euro dropped on Monday to a new 20-year low after Russia’s decision to shut a major gas pipeline to Europe intensified the energy crisis that has dealt a heavy blow to the region’s economy.” The currency blew past parity, going as low as $0.988 in London. Stocks fell and energy prices surged while “European capitals struggle to contain growing concerns over Russia’s ‘weaponisation’ of gas supplies.”
Tags: $0.988, 20-year low, Blow, Currency, Economy, Energy crisis, Energy prices, euro, Europe, Gas, London, Parity, Pipeline, Russia, Shut, Stocks, Surged, Weaponisation
Wall Street Journal (November 16)
Royal Dutch Shell will abandon its complicated dual British/Dutch structure, moving its headquarters to London. The move is being made to “help facilitate returns to shareholders and make it simpler to change up its portfolio of assets” as it transitions to low-carbon energy. The move should also improve the company’s “flexibility to buy back shares.”
Tags: Assets, Buy back, Dual structure, Energy, Flexibility, Headquarters, London, Low-carbon, Portfolio, Returns, Shareholders, Shell, Transitions
Bloomberg (May 29)
The Asia-Pacific region “has gone from leader to laggard.” Until recently, APAC fared remarkably well at averting the worst of the pandemic. Now, in contrast, as “New York and London reopen, Singapore and Taipei are in semi-lockdown. Melbourne joined them this week. On May 24, the U.S. State Department added Japan to its ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ advisory list.” The “failure to get shots into arms fast enough has in some cases triggered swift and unexpected reversals of fortune that carry significant economic implications.”
Tags: APAC, Economic implications, Japan, Laggard, Leader, Lockdown, London, Melbourne, New York, Pandemic, Reopen, Reversals, Singapore, Taipei, U.S.
Investment Week (April 9)
“JP Morgan chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon claimed Brexit ‘cannot possibly be a positive’ for the UK in the short term as he warned that the investment bank may one day move all European business out of London.” The bank’s 19,000 UK employees include 12,000 in London.
Tags: Brexit, Dimon, Employees, European, Investment bank, JP Morgan, London, Move, Short term, UK
Reuters (February 15)
“Brexit-supporting City figures hoping for a regulatory bonfire seem likely to be disappointed…. The BoE’s first deviation from EU law was to make the rules tighter, not looser. The supervisor also recently ruled out a big capital reduction for insurers. London may end up being smaller, but at least it will be safer.”
Tags: BOE, Brexit, Capital reduction, Deviation, Disappointed, EU law, Insurers, London, Looser, Regulatory, Rules, Safer, Smaller, Supervisor, Tighter
Financial Times (December 10)
“When the dust settles on the UK’s departure from the EU, few doubt that London will remain a major financial centre for the foreseeable future, as well as by far the largest hub in the European timezone, but there will doubtless be headwinds.”
Tags: Brexit, Departure, Doubt, Dust, EU, Financial centre, Future, Headwinds, Hub, London, Settles, UK
