Deutsche Bank is planning to shed 2,100 staff in its investment banking division, which is expected to include 350 London-based jobs. [31-Dec-2001]
Skipton Building Society has acquired Industrial Equipment Finance of Redhill, Surrey, for £4.5m. [24-Dec-2001]
Antfactory, the technology investment group, is to be acquired by investment bank Seymour Pierce, in a £100m deal that will enable Seymour Pierce to make further acquisitions in the fund management industry. [24-Dec-2001]
Lloyds TSB is to relocate the headquarters of its Black Horse financial services business and 1,000 staff from Cardiff's Newport Road to the new St William House scheme in 2003. [20-Dec-2001]
The Inland Revenue is soon to announce plans for the creation of about 500 jobs at a new call centre on Bracken Hill Business Park in Peterlee next year. [20-Dec-2001]
Skandia of Sweden has agreed to acquire Lynx Group for £210m, in order to gain access to the Bankhall investment management operation, while the Lynx IT business will be sold to management for £60m. [20-Dec-2001]
Altium Capital, the London-based investment bank, has undergone a management buy-out from Gold-Zack Group, in a deal that values the business at £65m. [20-Dec-2001]
Liverpool Victoria is to acquire the administration and investment operations of Hearts of Oak Insurance Group, which has funds under management of £350m. [20-Dec-2001]
CGNU has agreed to sell Plant Safety, its UK in-service inspection business with net assets of £3m, to Bureau Veritas. [18-Dec-2001]
CGNU has acquired a 50% stake in a subsidiary of Caja Espana for £88m, in order to increase its presence in the Spanish life and pensions market and gain access to 535 branches. [18-Dec-2001]
Yorkshire Bank is to set up a regional business centre at the former Wraggs industrial site in Sheffield, where it will employ 50 business advisors. [17-Dec-2001]
HSBC is to set up a £14m call centre at the De Montfort Business Park in Leicester, and 625 staff will be relocated from the bank's existing sites on Charles Street and Wellington Street. [13-Dec-2001]
Aberdeen Asset Management is to acquire Old Mutual's fund management business on the Isle of Man for £36m, in order to gain a foothold in the offshore bond market. [13-Dec-2001]
American Express is planning to shed about 6,000 jobs in its worldwide credit card and travel services business, which is expected to affect about 400 UK-based staff at offices in Brighton and London. [13-Dec-2001]
Capita Group has acquired Moorgate Registrars, the Chelmsford-based registrar, for £2m, in order to expand its shareholder services business. [11-Dec-2001]
Parkman has acquired Newbury King, the management and business consultancy, for £0.2m. [10-Dec-2001]
Alldaypa is planning to set up a £7m secretarial services call centre at either Salford Quays or Cheetham Hill in Manchester, with the creation of 500 jobs. [10-Dec-2001]
Abbey National is to create 600 new jobs over the next 18 months in order to expand its small business banking division, including 500 branch-based managers and 50 sales staff for the First National leasing operation. [10-Dec-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is said to be considering four potential locations in Birmingham for a 350,000 sq ft Midlands headquarters. [10-Dec-2001]
Zetters is to acquire Galliano Investments, the foreign exchange dealer, for up to £3m. [07-Dec-2001]
Royal Liver, the mutual insurance firm, has bought the industrial branch business of Irish Life & Permanent for £107m. [07-Dec-2001]
Britannic is to transfer about 150 jobs from the recently-acquired Alba life and pensions business in Glasgow to its Wythall Green site near Birmingham, while a further 250 Glasgow-based jobs will be lost. [06-Dec-2001]
Withers has announced plans to merge with New York-based Bergman Horowitz & Reynolds to create a leading international law firm focused on the private client market. [05-Dec-2001]
GMAC, the General Motors mortgage lending division, is closing its telesales centre in Bournemouth with the loss of 98 jobs, and the remaining business will be transferred to its Bracknell office. [04-Dec-2001]
PricewaterhouseCoopers is to close its Nottingham office at the end of next year and move to a £7m purpose-built complex at the Pegasus Business Park, combining 500 staff from various sites. [04-Dec-2001]
Pinsent Curtis Biddle is forming a strategic alliance with Paris-based legal practice Granrut, in order to further develop its relationships with French-owned companies. [30-Nov-2001]
TD Waterhouse is to acquire DLJdirect from Credit Suisse First Boston, in order to expand its stockbroking business in the UK. [30-Nov-2001]
Taylor Price Direct Choice is to start recruiting staff for a new three-storey insurance centre due to open at the Claydon Business Park in Ipswich next April, which could employ up to 200. [30-Nov-2001]
Standard Life Investments, the asset management company, is planning to open its first US office in Boston next year. [29-Nov-2001]
Tikit Group has acquired Aurra Consulting, the supplier of consultancy services to law firms, for an initial £0.6m. [28-Nov-2001]
The Welsh Development Agency is supporting a £1.8m investment by Creditsafe UK in a new telesales centre at the Caerphilly Business Park, which will create 60 jobs. [28-Nov-2001]
Herbert Smith, the law firm, is planning to form an alliance with Stibbe, in order to expand its business into Belgium and the Netherlands. [27-Nov-2001]
Yorkshire Building Society is planning to merge with the Gainsborough Building Society, which has one branch and more than a dozen agency offices in Lincolnshire. [26-Nov-2001]
Unilever is considering plans to launch a venture capital fund to develop new business initiatives not related to its core activities of food and personal care. [26-Nov-2001]
Wellington Underwriting is in discussions with a number of venture capital companies about plans to form a £400m London-based insurance company, in order to benefit from the expected growth in new business next year. [26-Nov-2001]
Brit Insurance is planning to raise £154m in a share placing in order to double the volume of business it underwrites at Lloyd's of London next year. [26-Nov-2001]
Hiscox is planning to raise £54m in a rights issue to fund the expansion of its Hiscox Insurance and Lloyd's operations. [23-Nov-2001]
Lloyds TSB has acquired CashFriday, the Gloucester-based provider of funding and payroll services to the temporary recruitment sector, for £10m, in order to expand its Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance operation. [22-Nov-2001]
Whitehead Mann is to acquire Baines Gwinner, the financial and professional services executive search firm with offices in London and New York, for £10m. [22-Nov-2001]
Eversheds, the law firm, is to relocate its two Cardiff offices and 615 staff to a new headquarters at Bute Square next summer. [22-Nov-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to relocate 18 administrative offices and 3,000 Manchester-based staff to two new buildings at the £650m Spinningfields development by 2004. [22-Nov-2001]
Thomsons, the Manchester-based independent financial adviser, has been acquired by AWD of Germany for £31m. [22-Nov-2001]
Maclay Murray & Spens is to acquire the private client arm of legal firm McGrigor Donald, which will involve the transfer of two partners and 15 staff. [21-Nov-2001]
Adrian Flux Insurance is planning to create up to 50 jobs over the next year, following the recent consolidation of its three King's Lynn offices onto a single site at East Winch Hall. [21-Nov-2001]
Legal & General is planning to spin off its fund management operation into a new wholly-owned subsidiary, as part of a restructuring programme being fund by the issue of a £500m convertible bond. [21-Nov-2001]
Merrill Lynch is to shed 100 investment banking jobs in London and close private wealth management operations in Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds. [19-Nov-2001]
Edward Jones, the US stockbroker, is looking to open additional one-person offices in high street locations throughout the UK, expanding its existing chain from 102 to 400 within a year. [19-Nov-2001]
HBOS is planning to centralise most of its credit card marketing, sales, finance and administration functions in Cardiff and its credit card processing and customer service facilities in Dunfermline. [19-Nov-2001]
Hays has won a £30m contract to provide personnel services to Liverpool Victoria, including recruitment and training for 2,800 insurance and pensions staff. [19-Nov-2001]
CGNU is to close a Norwich Union office in Cambridge with the loss of up to 70 policy administration staff, and the work will be transferred to other branches. [16-Nov-2001]
Charles Stanley has acquired Torrie & Co, the Edinburgh-based stockbroker, for up to £7.8m. [16-Nov-2001]
Investec has acquired European Capital, the London-based project finance company, in order to expand its infrastructure financing capabilities beyond its South African base. [15-Nov-2001]
HSBC has shed a further 60 investment banking jobs in London. [13-Nov-2001]
Brewin Dolphin, the stockbroker, has acquired Russell Newth for an initial £0.9m. [12-Nov-2001]
Chesterton International is to shed 65 of the 1,600 jobs in its estate agency business, as part of a programme to reduce costs by £4m a year. [12-Nov-2001]
HBOS is planning to invest £40m in the expansion of its Clerical Medical Investment Management business over the next three years, and 150 staff will be added to the current 250. [12-Nov-2001]
US Bancorp Piper Jaffray is launching an investment advice business for small and medium-sized companies in London, and additional European offices will be added later. [12-Nov-2001]
HBOS is considering plans to close up to 60 bank branches in Scotland, to eliminate overlap between the former Halifax and Bank of Scotland operations. [09-Nov-2001]
MGt has announced 130 new jobs at its customer service call centre in Kirkcaldy, taking the workforce to nearly 600. [09-Nov-2001]
Brewin Dolphin is to shed a further 40 jobs at its Edinburgh-based Stocktrade subsidiary. [09-Nov-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance is planning to raise £800m through a programme of unspecified disposals over the next year, and the proceeds will be used to expand its general insurance business. [09-Nov-2001]
Saga Group is to create up to 750 new jobs in Kent, including 600 at a new £15m call centre near Margate selling financial and other services to customers over 50. [08-Nov-2001]
HBOS is to close its Halifax business banking administration centre in Exeter in March and offer alternative employment to 90 staff, as part of a nationwide reorganisation. [08-Nov-2001]
American Express is expected to shed dozens of jobs in Brighton, as part of a worldwide cost-cutting campaign. [07-Nov-2001]
Axa Insurance is planning to shed 100 of its 500 management jobs, and further cuts are expected later among the 5,000 non-managerial staff. [07-Nov-2001]
Credit Suisse First Boston is considering plans to sell its DLJ Direct online stockbroking service in the UK, which could be worth about £25m. [07-Nov-2001]
The Welsh Development Agency is to receive £20m of European aid to enable its Finance Wales operation help Welsh firms create 10,000 new jobs over the next five years, and a further £25m will be provided by Barclays. [06-Nov-2001]
Egg is creating 110 new jobs at its internet banking call centre in Derby over the next few months. [05-Nov-2001]
Andersen is planning to shed up to 350 of the 7,000 jobs in its UK accounting and consultancy business. [05-Nov-2001]
Murgitroyd Group is planning to raise £3m in a flotation on Aim to fund its patent attorney business into continental Europe. [05-Nov-2001]
Abbey National has formed a £400m facilities management joint venture with Stiell to manage the bank's properties under a 10-year contract. [02-Nov-2001]
Prudential is to sell its general insurance business to Winterthur of Switzerland for £353m, and has also announced plans to shed up to 2,100 jobs at sites in London, Reading, Belfast and Stirling. [02-Nov-2001]
Pinsent Curtis Biddle is to open an office in Manchester in January, staffed by about 20 lawyers. [01-Nov-2001]
Barclays is to combine its Caribbean operations with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, creating a new company called FirstCaribbean International Bank with 87 branches. [01-Nov-2001]
Eversheds, the law firm, has acquired a 36,000 sq ft office at Kett House in Cambridge, but is only expected to occupy 12,000 sq ft initially. [31-Oct-2001]
DAS, the Bristol-based insurance company, has submitted plans to build a new 68,000 sq ft office at the Locking Castle Business Park in Weston-super-Mare. [31-Oct-2001]
Ulster Bank is centralising its IT operations at the Danesfort office development in Belfast, which will involve the relocation of about 160 staff mainly from temporary accommodation in Newtownabbey. [31-Oct-2001]
Liffe, the London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange, is to be acquired by Paris-based Euronext for £555m. [30-Oct-2001]
Berry Birch & Noble is planning a reverse takeover of the Berkeley independent financial advisory business, in a deal that values Berkeley at £70m. [30-Oct-2001]
HBOS is to close the Bank of Scotland retail marketing operation in Dunfermline, with all 60 staff being offered relocation to Halifax, Chester or Edinburgh. [29-Oct-2001]
Ins-sure Services is to combine its two London offices and 45 staff onto one site at Billiter Street in December. [26-Oct-2001]
Biggart Baillie has acquired Steedman Ramage, the law firm with 44 employees and offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. [26-Oct-2001]
The Inland Revenue is considering plans to set up a new call centre on Merseyside with the creation of up to 500 jobs, and is said to be looking at two possible sites in Birkenhead and Bootle. [25-Oct-2001]
Duke Street is setting up a new management company in Madrid called Iberduke Capital Partners, as part of a strategy to expand its private equity business in Spain and Portugal. [25-Oct-2001]
PwC has announced plans to shed a further 330 jobs in its UK consulting business, and is seeking voluntary redundancies. [25-Oct-2001]
Direct Line is expected to create more jobs at its new £5m insurance call centre in Birmingham, which already houses 680 staff. [24-Oct-2001]
Prudential is to acquire YoungPoong Life, the South Korean insurance company, from Korea Zinc for £20m. [23-Oct-2001]
HBOS is planning to expand its activities in the small business banking market through the recruitment of an extra 1,500 staff over the next three years, which will involve the use of Halifax's high street branches. [22-Oct-2001]
Putsmans and Willcox Lane Clutterbuck are to merge to create a combined Birmingham-based law firm with 21 partners and more than 220 staff. [22-Oct-2001]
Budget Financial Services has acquired Dial Direct Insurance Marketing, the insurance intermediary with 536 Coventry-based staff. [22-Oct-2001]
Weightmans is to open a law office in London next May, having acquired the litigation business of Vizard Oldham. [19-Oct-2001]
Scottish Equitable is to launch a new personal investments business in Stirling next year, with the creation of at least 100 jobs. [19-Oct-2001]
Egg is planning to shed up to 50 of the 2,000 jobs in its internet banking business as part of a restructuring programme aimed at saving £4m a year. [18-Oct-2001]
Tenon is expanding its financial services operation with the £67m acquisition of four businesses - two BDO Stoy Hayward offices in the east Midlands, Livingstone Guarantee, Dhand Hatchard Davies and Statham Gill Davies. [17-Oct-2001]
AMP of Australia is planning to expand its door-to-door insurance salesforce in the UK from 600 to 1,000 over the next two years. [16-Oct-2001]
Credit Suisse Asset Management is to acquire Sun Life of Canada's UK fund management operations for up to £130m. [16-Oct-2001]
Hanco is planning to double the size of its network of 1,150 cashpoint machines over the next two years, by installing about 150 new machines a month in convenience stores. [15-Oct-2001]
Deutsche Bank is looking to dispose of four buildings in the City of London in order to consolidate its business onto fewer sites. [15-Oct-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans to expand its operations in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, which will involve the appointment of four country heads and a 30% increase in the 300-strong staff. [15-Oct-2001]
MiniBusPlus, the minibus insurance wholesaler, has undergone a management buy-out from Bayliss & Cooke for several million pounds. [12-Oct-2001]
Bank of Ireland has launched a new leasing and hire purchase business and expects to recruit 150 staff over the next three years. [12-Oct-2001]
Xchanging, the supplier of back-office support services, has secured £25m of venture capital from General Atlantic Partners to finance its expansion plans. [08-Oct-2001]
Cazenove has closed its emerging markets investment business with the loss of about 25 jobs. [08-Oct-2001]
Hermes Pensions Management is planning to more then double the size of its corporate governance business, increasing the number of specialists from 15 to 40 by the end of 2002. [08-Oct-2001]
Cavanagh Group, the firm of financial advisers, is to raise £1.5m in a share issue in order to recruit new consultants. [08-Oct-2001]
Towergate Underwriting Group is to acquire Folgate Insurance for £20m, and is now looking to spend a further £40m on acquisitions. [05-Oct-2001]
Travelex is to shed 70 of the 1,000 jobs at the headquarters of its Peterborough-based foreign currency exchange business. [04-Oct-2001]
Zurich Financial Services is to launch a wealth management service in partnership with 7 Investment Management, which will be offered by phone and internet. [04-Oct-2001]
Tenon is to acquire Techlocate, the Manchester-based inward investment consultancy, for £0.6m. [04-Oct-2001]
Lazard has closed its wealth management business with the loss of up to 10 jobs. [03-Oct-2001]
Manchester United is to expand its financial services division in partnership with Bank of Scotland, Britannia and Zurich Financial Services, and will set up an advice centre at Old Trafford. [02-Oct-2001]
Moneybox is raising £11m in second-round funding to install an additional 2,400 cash machines in the UK, and will also open networks in Germany and the Netherlands. [02-Oct-2001]
WH Ireland is to acquire Stockholm Investments for an initial £0.4m, in order to increase the funds under management at its London office. [01-Oct-2001]
Alliance & Leicester is planning to shed 400 jobs at its Girobank headquarters in Bootle, as part of a previously announced scheme to cut 700 jobs nationwide. [01-Oct-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to create 6,000 jobs in order to improve customer service by replacing NatWest's automated telephone service. [28-Sep-2001]
Ernst & Young is planning to shed 200 of its 8,000 staff following a fall in demand for corporate finance services. [27-Sep-2001]
Sportscard, the provider of credit cards to sports fans, is being acquired by UKbetting for £4.4m. [26-Sep-2001]
M&G has restructured its UK equities business with the loss of 15 investment management jobs. [26-Sep-2001]
Franklin Templeton Investments, the US-based investment manager, is to close its sales and marketing office in Edinburgh and transfer up to 20 employees to London. [25-Sep-2001]
Barclays has announced plans to invest £50m in the roll out of Woolwich's Open Plan account, which enables customers to offset their current account balance against their mortgage. [25-Sep-2001]
Providian National Bank is planning to relocate its London headquarters to a 20,000 sq ft office on Monument Street. [24-Sep-2001]
Alliance & Leicester has announced plans to shed 700 back-office jobs at a number of sites across the country. [24-Sep-2001]
Abbey National has set up four new companies to manage its branch networks in Belfast, Cardiff, Newcastle and Ealing, in an extension of its franchising experiment that will give more control to local bank managers. [24-Sep-2001]
PricewaterhouseCoopers is to close its office in Middlesbrough town centre and relocate the 20 staff to Newcastle by next January. [21-Sep-2001]
Lab Medico Legal Services, the supplier of medical reports to solicitors, is planning to move to a larger office at Bracken Hill in Peterlee, where it will employ up to 120 staff. [20-Sep-2001]
Beeson Gregory, the technology-focused investment bank, is in merger talks with Evolution Group. [20-Sep-2001]
Charles Taylor Consulting has acquired the general aviation loss adjusting business of HCC Insurance Holdings of the US for £5.3m. [18-Sep-2001]
IFG Group has acquired Saunderson Ventures, the London-based supplier of financial advisory services, for £7m. [17-Sep-2001]
CGNU is creating 100 jobs at its Norwich Union car insurance call centres in Norwich and Worthing. [17-Sep-2001]
The Labour Party is to create 50 administration jobs at a National Support Centre in North Shields, and relocation and recruitment will begin next month. [17-Sep-2001]
Portman Building Society is to acquire Sun Bank, the Stevenage-based mortgage specialist with 180 staff, from Sun Life of Canada for £95m. [17-Sep-2001]
Keoghs, the specialist insurance law firm, is closing its Southampton office, but will retain three of the 11 fee earners and continue to operate out of its larger Bolton and Coventry offices. [14-Sep-2001]
Canary Wharf Group is in advanced discussions with two law firms planning to take office space at a new 32-storey tower - Allen & Overy and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. [13-Sep-2001]
Bruce Stevenson, the Edinburgh-based insurance broker, has announced plans to restructure the company, recruit 14 new staff and possibly seek an acquisition. [12-Sep-2001]
Millfield has acquired Heritage for £10m, in order to double its network of independent financial advisers to 270. [11-Sep-2001]
MBNA is seeking permission to double the size of its credit card headquarters on Chester Business Park, which could lead to the creation of up to 3,000 jobs. [10-Sep-2001]
Abbey National has been approached by GE Capital and a number of other companies interested in buying its First National Retail Finance division, which is valued at about £250m. [10-Sep-2001]
HBOS is planning to expand in the small business banking market, which will involve the creation of hundreds of jobs at Halifax branches and Bank of Scotland call centres. [10-Sep-2001]
Davenham, the supplier of financial services to companies, is planning to raise up to £25m in a flotation next month. [10-Sep-2001]
Axa Assistance is moving to a new head office in Redhill later this month, with 240 staff relocating from Leatherhead and 140 from Reigate. [07-Sep-2001]
PwC is offering redundancy to 280 of the 3,500 staff in its UK professional services business, which will affect both consultants and ancillary staff. [07-Sep-2001]
Barclays is to relocate its head office functions from a number of offices throughout London to a new 1m sq ft building at Canary Wharf. [06-Sep-2001]
Savills is planning to spend £17m on the expansion of its upmarket estate agency business, through bolt-on acquisitions and the formation of partnerships. [06-Sep-2001]
Britannic is to expand its insurance distribution network through two new deals with Irish Life & Permanent and Isle of Man-based Hansard Group. [05-Sep-2001]
Virgin Incentives, the voucher-giving service, is opening a call centre in Thornaby on Teesside, with the creation of up to 20 jobs. [04-Sep-2001]
Prudential's Scottish Amicable business is to stop selling mortgage protection and investment products through tied providers, and the affected staff will be absorbed into other parts of the business at Craigforth in Stirling. [04-Sep-2001]
Collins Stewart is planning to expand its hedge fund business into Italy and other European countries, and is also continuing to grow its investment trust operations. [04-Sep-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to close a NatWest cash centre in Cambridge in March with the loss of 67 jobs, and the local branches will be serviced by cash centres in London and the Midlands. [03-Sep-2001]
Tep Exchange has raised about £1m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund the development of its electronic trading platform for dealing in endowment policies. [03-Sep-2001]
First Trust has announced plans to invest £10m in its banking network in Northern Ireland, including the creation of a £3m flagship branch in Belfast city centre. [31-Aug-2001]
Lloyds TSB is planning to shed 500 of the 30,000 jobs in its 2,000-strong branch network by the end of the year. [30-Aug-2001]
Britannic Assurance is to acquire Blairlogie Capital Management of Edinburgh for undisclosed terms, in order to expand its Britannic Asset Management subsidiary. [30-Aug-2001]
Centrica is to invest £12m in the launch of a new smartcard for golfers, in partnership with the English Golf Union and AdvancedWare. [30-Aug-2001]
Swinton Insurance is to shed 70 jobs at its call centre in Manchester, following a decision by parent company MNA Holdings to move customer service away from the telephone and back to the high street. [27-Aug-2001]
Cox Insurance is to recruit 100 additional staff at its insurance call centre in Bradford over the next few months. [27-Aug-2001]
NewMedia Spark is planning to acquire Sputz, the German broking and venture capital group, for £30m. [27-Aug-2001]
Cattles is planning to open up to 100 consumer credit branches over the next 18 months, taking the total to 550. [24-Aug-2001]
Legal & General is to recruit 100 extra staff in Birmingham over the next nine months, partly due to a partnership deal that involves L&G's products being sold by the Woolwich. [23-Aug-2001]
Bank of Scotland is opening the country's first convenience store bank at a Spar outlet in Inverkeithing, and the idea could be expanded to other areas. [23-Aug-2001]
Grant Thornton is to close its accountancy office in Witney and transfer the 25 staff to offices in Oxford and Banbury. [23-Aug-2001]
Icollector, the online auction business, is to be acquired by Ableauctions of the US for up to £9.6m, on the condition that a £2.4m share placing goes ahead. [23-Aug-2001]
Bradford & Bingley is to shed a further 500 back-office jobs, including 200 at head office, as part of a cost-cutting campaign aimed at saving £30m a year. [23-Aug-2001]
Broadcastle is to acquire Cash Express, the invoice discounting company, for £0.8m. [21-Aug-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans to create 100 jobs at a new £3m call centre in Norwich for its Virgin One all-in-one current account and mortgage. [20-Aug-2001]
CGNU is to create 250 jobs at its Norwich Union life and pensions business in York, having decided to relocate some administration processing investment from Croydon. [20-Aug-2001]
Skipton Building Society has bought a majority stake in Direct Life & Pension Services for £4.1m, in order to gain access to voice recognition technology that will enable computers to initiate phone calls to sell life assurance. [20-Aug-2001]
William M Mercer is to acquire SCA Consulting, the supplier of advice on performance-related pay packages, for undisclosed terms. [20-Aug-2001]
Yorkshire Building Society is creating 72 jobs at call centres in Bradford over the next six months. [17-Aug-2001]
Beenz.com is to close its internet currency business with the loss of 25 jobs in London. [17-Aug-2001]
Citigroup, the US financial services group, has announced plans to shed 3,500 jobs worldwide, but has not revealed how many of its 12,000-strong European workforce will be affected. [15-Aug-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to acquire Euro Sales Finance, the invoice discounting company, for £68m. [15-Aug-2001]
Claims Direct, the personal injury claims specialist, has recommended a £19m takeover bid from its two founders. [13-Aug-2001]
Beeson Gregory has raised £4.5m in a share placing to expand its IP2IPO intellectual property division. [06-Aug-2001]
CGNU has merged its Asserta division with Propertyfinder to create one of the leading online databases of upmarket properties. [06-Aug-2001]
Standard Chartered is seeking credit card acquisitions in Hong Kong, and has also announced plans to list in Hong Kong and raise £450m in a share issue. [02-Aug-2001]
TD Waterhouse is to close its share dealing office in Bradford with the loss of up to 80 jobs, although some staff will relocate to Leeds and Manchester. [01-Aug-2001]
CGNU is to acquire a 50% stake in Bia Galicia, the Spanish life and pensions business, from Caixa Galicia for £89m. [01-Aug-2001]
Portman Building Society is to trial a mobile bank in rural areas of Devon, which will involve the supply of banking services from a van. [31-Jul-2001]
Lloyds TSB Insurance has bought the brand name of Screentrade.co.uk, the online insurance broker, from Misys for undisclosed terms. [31-Jul-2001]
Consignia is to terminate a contract with Girobank for the collection and delivery of notes and coins from post offices nationwide in June 2002, but the two sides are trying to negotiate a new deal. [30-Jul-2001]
Bank of Scotland is to recruit an additional 15 managers at its new business bank in Inverness. [30-Jul-2001]
Insinger de Beaufort of the Netherlands is to acquire United Trust Bank for £8.7m, in order to gain a UK banking licence to expand its wealth management business. [30-Jul-2001]
Halifax Cetelem is to set up a national operations centre in Coventry to supply finance and credit services to retailers, with the creation of more than 100 jobs. [27-Jul-2001]
CGNU is to acquire the Insurance Corporation of Singapore from DBS Group for £152m, which will more than double its presence in Asia. [24-Jul-2001]
American Express is to open Sharepeople investment centres in four of its London travel centres, and the trial will be extended to other sites if successful. [24-Jul-2001]
Alliance & Leicester is looking to spend up to £500m on acquisitions to expand its retail and small business banking operations. [23-Jul-2001]
The Scottish Executive has announced plans to move the Scottish Public Pensions Agency from Edinburgh to Galashiels at the end of next year, which is expected to lead to the relocation of 50 jobs and the creation of 175 new jobs. [19-Jul-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance is to acquire Seguros BBV Probursa, the Mexican insurance company, for £29m. [19-Jul-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to buy the US retail banking business of Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial for £1.5bn, funded by a £2bn share placing. [18-Jul-2001]
Gartmore is to sell its passive equity fund management business to State Street Global Advisors for undisclosed terms, in order to focus on its high margin active business. [18-Jul-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to take full control of the Virgin One integrated banking business, by acquiring the 25% stakes held by Virgin and AMP. [17-Jul-2001]
Societe Generale of France has shed 90 jobs in London as part of a reorganisation of its investment banking division. [17-Jul-2001]
Groupama of France is said to be looking to sell its UK insurance business, which could be worth about £400m. [17-Jul-2001]
Levy Gee, the accountancy firm, has been acquired by a new company called Numerica for undisclosed terms, and Numerica is now looking to acquire further small professional services firms. [17-Jul-2001]
Aberdeen Asset Management is to acquire Ivory & Sime Asset Management from Friends Ivory & Sime for £9.6m. [17-Jul-2001]
Liverpool Victoria is expected to create more than 100 jobs in Poole through the acquisition of Essex-based Bishopscourt Financial Holdings and some of its subsidiaries. [16-Jul-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance is considering plans to break up its life assurance business, in order to attract bids from smaller companies. [16-Jul-2001]
NewMedia Spark is to shed some of the 30 jobs at its London office and postpone plans to set up an office in India, in order to reduce costs in its technology investment business by £3m a year. [16-Jul-2001]
Northamptonshire County Council and Milton Keynes Council are inviting companies to bid to take over their support services, such as accounts, IT and personnel, which could involve the transfer of more than 800 staff. [13-Jul-2001]
Bonhams & Brooks is planning to merge with Phillips to create a combined fine art auction group that will include Phillips' Bond Street saleroom and regional auction houses. [13-Jul-2001]
Hercules Property Services is to acquire Mainguild, the franchised residential auction house of the Winkworth estate agency, for up to £0.5m. [12-Jul-2001]
Liverpool Victoria has acquired the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses in a £248m deal. [11-Jul-2001]
Enterprise has acquired First Claims Response, the supplier of maintenance services to local authorities and hospital trusts in the North of England, for up to £5.8m. [10-Jul-2001]
Ward Evans is to move its financial services headquarters from York to Leeds this summer, but there will be no compulsory job losses. [10-Jul-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance has agreed to buy the property and casualty services arm of collapsed Independent Insurance for almost £3m, securing 300 jobs. [10-Jul-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is considering plans to expand its US presence by acquiring Mellon Financial of Pittsburgh for more than £1.3bn. [09-Jul-2001]
CPP Holdings has acquired Homecare Holdings, the mobile phone insurance subsidiary of Miller Fisher, for undisclosed terms. [06-Jul-2001]
Labour is planning to relocate its headquarters and 80 jobs from London's Millbank to North Shields, while a further 60 staff will be moved to new offices in central London. [06-Jul-2001]
The government has announced plans to set up 20 pension administration centres around the country, including one in Swansea that will create 500 new jobs. [05-Jul-2001]
Eversheds, the law firm, is to relocate 310 staff from two offices in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to a new office at the Central Square development early next year. [05-Jul-2001]
Axa has acquired Independent Insurance's website for small commercial risks for undisclosed terms, which will involve the transfer of 17 staff. [05-Jul-2001]
Edinburgh Fund Managers has acquired Portfolio Fund Management from Liberty International for up to £20m. [05-Jul-2001]
Bank of Ireland is to acquire Willis Financial, the independent financial adviser, for £40m, which will provide its Bristol & West division with a network of 18 offices and 100 consultants. [04-Jul-2001]
Union has sold its margin share trading and foreign exchange operations to Man Financial for £1.8m. [03-Jul-2001]
Lovells is to merge with Paris and Brussels-based Simeon & Associes, creating a combined law firm with more than 130 partners in continental Europe. [03-Jul-2001]
Hammond Suddards Edge is to merge with Rossotto e Associati, the Italian law firm with 44 lawyers. [03-Jul-2001]
J2C, the online trading centre formerly known as Just2Clicks, is to close itself down and return £35m to shareholders. [02-Jul-2001]
Penna Consulting has acquired James Black Partnership, the Belfast-based human resources consultancy, for up to £5.2m. [29-Jun-2001]
Newmarket Underwriting, the Lloyd's managing agency with 35 staff, has been acquired by Danish Re and has also decided to close its marine underwriting operation. [29-Jun-2001]
CGNU has acquired a 50% stake in the life assurance division of Unicaja of Spain for £92m. [28-Jun-2001]
Halifax has opened its new £45m banking call centre in Belfast, and has also announced plans to create a further 100 jobs at an e-commerce centre on the site. [27-Jun-2001]
SG Securities, the London stockbroking arm of France' Societe Generale, is to close its emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa business and reorganise its UK equities business with the loss of 67 jobs. [27-Jun-2001]
Abbey National is creating 15 new jobs in Chelmsford, as the town has been chosen as one of nine locations nationwide to act as an advice centre for its new Inscape investment management service. [27-Jun-2001]
Towry Law is being acquired by AMP of Australia for £76m, and AMP is planning to expand the business into the UK's largest financial adviser. [27-Jun-2001]
Legal & General is to sell its Fairmont financial services business to Brown Shipley for £35m. [25-Jun-2001]
BWD Securities is to acquire Dennis Murphy Campbell for £10m, in order to expand its stockbroking business into the City of London. [25-Jun-2001]
Misys is closing two online financial services operations - Screentrade.com and Theformula.com - with the loss of up to 120 jobs in London and Peterborough. [25-Jun-2001]
National Mutual, the pensions company with 690 staff, has agreed to a £370m takeover offer from GE Capital, and will now seek approval from its members. [25-Jun-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland has acquired the Italian and German motor insurance operations of Allstate of the US for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to expand its Direct Line subsidiary into continental Europe. [21-Jun-2001]
Charterhouse Development Capital, the venture capital group, has undergone a management buy-out from HSBC for undisclosed terms. [21-Jun-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance is to sell its Canadian life insurance business to the Maritime Life Assurance Company for £110m. [20-Jun-2001]
Millfield is planning to expand its network of financial advisers from 100 to about 300 by April 2002. [19-Jun-2001]
Independent Insurance has gone into voluntary liquidation due to possible financial irregularities, putting 2,000 jobs at risk. [19-Jun-2001]
Handelsbanken of Sweden is to open a branch in Leeds to act as the centre for its operations in Yorkshire and the north east. [18-Jun-2001]
The Meteorological Office is to invest £0.5m in a new online trading exchange for weather risk derivatives called WeatherXchange.com. [18-Jun-2001]
NewMedia Spark is to acquire GlobalNetFinancial, the online financial services company, for about £9m. [18-Jun-2001]
Churchill Insurance is to acquire AMP's general insurance operations in the UK for £80m, which will involve the transfer of about 420 Peterborough-based staff. [18-Jun-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to create 80 new jobs at the NatWest Bank call centre at Theale near Reading. [18-Jun-2001]
CGNU is to acquire Fortis Australia from Fortis Group for £111m, in order to expand its general insurance business in Australia. [15-Jun-2001]
PricewaterhouseCoopers is to close its Derby office next month, and 50 staff will relocate to Nottingham. [15-Jun-2001]
Active is to expand its financial services business process outsourcing centre near Rotherham with the creation of 250 jobs, while a further 100 jobs will be created in Halesowen. [15-Jun-2001]
PricewaterhouseCoopers is to create a further 50 jobs at its new Business Process Outsourcing centre in Potters Bar, having won a contract to provide human resource services for Nortel Networks. [14-Jun-2001]
Kingsbridge Holdings is to acquire Benson McGarvey, the Nottingham-based financial adviser, for £13m. [14-Jun-2001]
Legal & General is planning to create a further 300 jobs at its two financial services sites in Cardiff this year. [13-Jun-2001]
Ilkeston Permanent, the building society with one branch and 4,500 savers, is to merge with the Derbyshire building society in November. [13-Jun-2001]
The London Stock Exchange is to relocate to larger premises at Paternoster Square in the City of London, having signed a 25-year lease on an eight-storey building at King Edward's Court. [13-Jun-2001]
Lazard is to close its money market business in London with the loss of 60 jobs, in order to focus on its advisory, capital market and asset management operations. [12-Jun-2001]
Lloyds TSB is planning to auction 100 bank branches through Healey & Baker, in a sale and leaseback arrangement that will raise about £36m. [12-Jun-2001]
Green Flag has announced plans to recruit a further 194 staff at its insurance call centres in Leeds and Pudsey, with vacancies in motoring assistance, customer service, telesales and claims departments. [11-Jun-2001]
Card Protection Plan has announced plans to create a further 400 jobs at its Holgate Park headquarters in York. [11-Jun-2001]
Independent Insurance has had trading in its shares suspended while a £150m share placing is prepared to strengthen the group's capital base. [11-Jun-2001]
Alexander Forbes is looking to spend up to £110m on the acquisition of UK insurance brokers over the next year, and may move its stock market listing from South Africa to London. [11-Jun-2001]
Longacre Partners is to acquire Lommen, the Swedish corporate finance house, as part of its European expansion programme. [07-Jun-2001]
Ward Evans is to create about 12 new jobs in its York-based insurance and financial services business over the next two months, to add to the existing 185. [06-Jun-2001]
Ipoints has acquired the UK business of Webmiles, the Bertelsmann-funded internet loyalty scheme, as well as the customer base and debts of the Surfmiles scheme. [06-Jun-2001]
Standard Chartered is to shed 60 jobs in London, as part of a reorganisation of its private banking and wealth management operations. [06-Jun-2001]
Kwik-Fit Insurance is to create a further 100 jobs at its insurance call centre in Tannochside, to add to the existing 800. [05-Jun-2001]
Halifax is considering plans to set up a third operations centre for its Intelligent Finance internet and telephone banking business in Fife, which could lead to the creation of up to 400 jobs. [05-Jun-2001]
Sony is to move its currency hedging and fund-raising activities to London in order to make savings in commissions and interest payments, which will involve the transfer of 20 staff. [05-Jun-2001]
Davies Wallis Foyster is to set up a national centre of excellence for high-volume legal transactions in Warrington, which will trade under the name of DWF Maxima and create about 150 jobs. [04-Jun-2001]
Parkman, the supplier of outsourced professional services to the public sector, is planning to raise up to £10m in a flotation. [04-Jun-2001]
Schroders is to outsource its IT operations to CSC, in a £169m deal that will involve the transfer of more than 200 staff. [04-Jun-2001]
Transacsys is linking up with FPS to launch pension vending machines, which will enable holders of corporate Girovend electronic cash cards to transfer money into their pensions. [04-Jun-2001]
CGNU is investing £250m in its new Norwich Union internet business, which will involve online banking and wealth management and the creation of 300 jobs in Norwich. [30-May-2001]
Capita is to acquire McLarens from McLarens Toplis for £33m, in order to provide claims management outsourcing services to the insurance industry. [30-May-2001]
IFG Group is to acquire Fair Isle Investments, the Fareham-based corporate pensions company, for £3m. [30-May-2001]
GE Capital is to acquire iGroup, the mortgage lender, for £200m, as part of a strategy to expand its European financial services business. [30-May-2001]
Prudential is launching an online insurance broking business called Quinner in Germany. [30-May-2001]
Bank of Ireland is looking to acquire firms of independent financial advisers to expand its moneyeXtra financial website in the UK. [28-May-2001]
Halifax is linking up with Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester to acquire a 51% stake in Mortgage Brain of Croydon for £5m, in order to develop a trading platform for financial advisers. [24-May-2001]
UBS Warburg is to shed up to 240 jobs in London in order to reduce costs in its investment banking operations. [23-May-2001]
Jones Lang LaSalle is opening a new office in Norwich this month to provide property management services to CGNU, and staff numbers are expected to double to 100 over the next 12 months. [23-May-2001]
Aberdeen Asset Management is considering plans to move its Aberdeen headquarters from Albyn Place to Marischal College. [23-May-2001]
CGNU is to sell its Belgian non-life insurance business to Winterthur of Switzerland for £72m. [23-May-2001]
Charles Taylor Consulting is to acquire Resolve International, the supplier of insurance underwriting services with offices in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Brussels and Miami. [23-May-2001]
Britannia Building Society is closing its Britannia Independent financial advisory service in Hanley with the loss of 15 jobs, while the payroll, internal audit and valuation departments are being outsourced. [22-May-2001]
Pearl Assurance is to close its customer management call centres in Peterborough and Cardiff with the loss of up to 270 jobs. [21-May-2001]
Collins Stewart is to acquire the private client advisory business of NatWest Stockbrokers for up to £17m. [21-May-2001]
KPMG is planning to shed up to 10% of its 2,100 UK consulting staff, following a fall in demand for IT services. [21-May-2001]
Beenz.com has cut its international offices from 15 to two with the loss of about 230 jobs, and is still seeking a buyer for its internet currency business. [18-May-2001]
Capita is to buy the corporate trustee business of Royal & Sun Alliance for £24m, and will also acquire the remaining 68.5% of the Myshares software business for £2m. [18-May-2001]
Towry Law, the financial adviser, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. [17-May-2001]
GlobalNetFinancial is to shed a further 100 jobs in its online personal finance operation, and is looking for a strategic partner or buyer for the business. [17-May-2001]
Esure is to set up a customer support call centre in Glasgow for its motor insurance business, with the creation of up to 400 jobs over the next three years. [17-May-2001]
Moneygator, the supplier of online personal finance services, is to close down its business and return £7m cash to shareholders. [16-May-2001]
Abbey National is to acquire Fleming Premier Banking from JP Morgan Chase for £106m, and the business will be integrated with Cater Allen. [15-May-2001]
People's Bank of the US is to close its office in Brackmills, Northampton, with the loss of up to 220 jobs, but staff will be offered the chance to relocate. [14-May-2001]
Ulster Bank is to set up a £8.3m internet-enabled account management centre at Danesfort in Belfast, with the creation of 210 jobs over the next five years. [11-May-2001]
Asquith Court Holdings, the Berkhamstead-based operator of nursery and independent day schools, has been acquired by West Private Equity for £66m. [11-May-2001]
The Funding Corporation is setting up a new financial services business in Chester to provide hire-purchase finance, and expects to create more than 100 jobs. [10-May-2001]
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers is to shed up to 300 administration and IT jobs in London, and a further 600 jobs will be lost in other countries. [10-May-2001]
Shepherd & Wedderburn is planning to create 50 jobs at its law offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, including 40 lawyers and 10 support staff. [09-May-2001]
Merrill Lynch and HSBC have launched their new online bank and brokerage for the mass affluent, and the first two of about 20 investment centres have been opened in London and Birmingham. [09-May-2001]
Insinger de Beaufort has acquired English Trust in order to expand its stockbroking and corporate finance business. [08-May-2001]
Wolters Kluwer of the Netherlands has sold its London-based Financial Training business to management for about £50m. [08-May-2001]
Prudential has announced plans to transfer up to 2,000 sales staff to Inter-Alliance, the independent financial adviser. [07-May-2001]
Primary Insurance Group is to close its Horsham office in July with the loss of about 80 jobs, and the business will be transferred to other branches in London and Altrincham. [04-May-2001]
Royal & Sun Alliance has sold its Swinton insurance broking business to MMA of France for £54m. [04-May-2001]
Abbey National has bought International Equipment Management, the Dutch aircraft leasing company, from ING for £26m. [04-May-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to sell the institutional custody operations of NatWest bank to the Bank of New York for undisclosed terms. [03-May-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is considering plans to consolidate its 15 Manchester offices into two new buildings, and a decision is expected soon. [02-May-2001]
Foreign & Colonial is to focus its fund management business on continental Europe and change its name to F&C Management. [02-May-2001]
Quinn-Direct is planning to set up a new call centre for its insurance business in Enniskillen with the creation of an unspecified number of jobs, but has not yet disclosed the location of the facility. [30-Apr-2001]
Amvescap is to acquire Pell Rudman, the Boston-based asset management company, for £139m, in order to expand its wealth management business in the US. [30-Apr-2001]
Hiscox is planning to double the size of its retail insurance business over the next five years, in order to reduce its dependence on the Lloyd's market. [27-Apr-2001]
Barclays is planning to extend the opening hours at most of its 1,719 branches over the next two years, with the creation of 2,000 jobs. [27-Apr-2001]
Scottish Provident has announced plans to sell its 39% stake in Aberdeen Asset Management through a placing on the stock market, and the £300m proceeds will be used to enhance the bonuses of policyholders. [27-Apr-2001]
Begbies Traynor has acquired Huntingdon Moore of Liverpool, in order to move into the Merseyside insolvency and corporate rescue market. [26-Apr-2001]
CPP is looking to recruit a further 250 staff at its financial services call centre in York by September, taking the total workforce to 1,000. [26-Apr-2001]
Halifax is negotiating a £27bn merger with Bank of Scotland, which will create the fifth largest bank in the UK and enable Halifax to expand further into current accounts and business banking. [26-Apr-2001]
Cazenove, the investment bank, has completed a £200m private fund raising of equity and debt, which will end its partnership structure and lead to a flotation within two years. [26-Apr-2001]
HSBC is to expand its call centre operations in Leicester with the creation of 250 jobs, and will move its commercial contact operations to the city over the next 18 months. [25-Apr-2001]
BDO Stoy Hayward is to shed 11 of its 300 partners as part of a restructuring programme following the 1999 merger with Moores Rowland. [25-Apr-2001]
Schroder Salomon Smith Barney of the US has shed up to 100 jobs at its European securities business in London. [24-Apr-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is seeking a suitable site for a new headquarters in Edinburgh for 3,000 staff, and is currently in discussions to acquire the 78-acre site of the former Gogarburn psychiatric hospital near the airport. [20-Apr-2001]
Old Mutual is planning to acquire Fleming Offshore Banking, the JP Morgan Chase private banking business that operates from Guernsey and the Isle of Man, for £51m. [20-Apr-2001]
National Mutual, the pensions mutual with 690 staff, is considering a number of takeover bids, including one from GE Capital. [20-Apr-2001]
Consignia is investing £50m on computer equipment designed to make its system compatible with the Link network of cash machines, which will enable customers to use debit cards at 40,000 post office terminals around the country. [19-Apr-2001]
Tenon Group has announced the £59m acquisition of five accountancy businesses in Manchester, London, Edinburgh and the north-east of England. [18-Apr-2001]
Aberdeen Asset Management has acquired Celexa, the Swedish property fund management company, for £16m. [18-Apr-2001]
Zurich Financial Services is to restructure its UK life insurance business with the loss of 500 jobs, including 170 in Swindon, in order to save £50m a year and outsource non-core activities. [18-Apr-2001]
PricewaterhouseCoopers has acquired Coba, the specialist due diligence company, for about £7m, in order to create a new strategy group with more than 50 consultants. [17-Apr-2001]
Benfield Greig is to acquire EW Blanch of the US for £126m, in order to create an international reinsurance brokerage with about 30 offices and 1,700 staff. [17-Apr-2001]
Claims Direct, the personal injury claims company, is to close 13 of its 17 franchised high-street shops. [12-Apr-2001]
Dunedin Capital Partners has acquired Group Trust, the investment business of Legal & General, for £32m. [11-Apr-2001]
Barclays Stockbrokers is planning to shed at least 90 of its 1,800 jobs, with contract staff expected to go first. [06-Apr-2001]
Charles Schwab is to shed up to 180 of its 850 UK staff, due to a fall in trading volumes in its stockbroking business. [06-Apr-2001]
Manchester City Council has approved plans for the development of a £30m court complex in the Spinningfield area, which will include 18 court rooms and facilities for 180 staff. [05-Apr-2001]
Jupiter Unit Trust Managers is to relocate its administration department from London to Kings Hill in Kent with the creation of about 25 jobs. [05-Apr-2001]
Manchester United is planning to extend its range of financial services, and possibilities include pensions, insurance, bank accounts, mortgages and savings. [04-Apr-2001]
Oxygen, the internet investment vehicle, has announced plans for a £5m reverse takeover by Tera of Finland, which will provide Oxygen with access to Tera's skills in wireless internet applications. [03-Apr-2001]
Kingsbridge is to acquire Stafford Group and The Independent Financial Partnership for £12m, funded by a £19m share placing. [03-Apr-2001]
The London Stock Exchange is considering the possibility of relocating to Canary Wharf or a number of other sites in London. [02-Apr-2001]
Beenz.com, the internet currency company, is said to have put itself up for sale. [29-Mar-2001]
Springboard has acquired Private Capital Exchange, the online corporate finance company, for undisclosed terms. [28-Mar-2001]
Credit Suisse First Boston is to sell off DLJ European Private Equity to a new business called Phoenix Equity Partners. [28-Mar-2001]
Britannia Building Society is to relocate its mortgage processing centre and up to 70 staff from Hanley to its headquarters in Leek this summer. [27-Mar-2001]
Alliance & Leicester is to set up a chain of stores to provide information to people planning to buy or improve homes, with the first two outlets opening in Banbury and Leamington Spa. [27-Mar-2001]
Bradford & Bingley is investing £10m in the launch of mortgage broking and independent financial advice centres in its network of more than 500 branches. [26-Mar-2001]
CGNU has acquired Mebit, the Hungarian life insurance company, from ABN Amro for £64m. [21-Mar-2001]
Collins Stewart is planning to expand its asset management business through acquisitions and organic growth this year, and will invest £1.3m in its Quest online research operation. [20-Mar-2001]
Abbey National is to sell its credit card division to MBNA for £289m, but the cards will continue to carry the Abbey National logo and the bank will receive a commission for every account opened. [20-Mar-2001]
BDO Stoy Hayward is to combine its accountancy operations in Nottingham, which has 20 partners and 200 staff, onto one site at Charnwood House. [20-Mar-2001]
Financial Training Company, the provider of accountancy training, is to undergo a £50m management buy-out backed by Royal Bank of Scotland. [19-Mar-2001]
Bank of Scotland is forming a joint venture with Zurich Financial Services to offer bank accounts, credit cards, loans and mortgages to Zurich's customers. [19-Mar-2001]
Goldman Sachs is planning to relocate its J Aron precious metals trading business from New York to London. [19-Mar-2001]
Foreign Currency Services, the foreign exchange bureau, is to create 60 new jobs in Stirling following a £2.3m cash injection, and is also setting up an operation in New York. [19-Mar-2001]
Donns is to relocate its Manchester-based law firm to larger premises at The Observatory on Cross Street later this month, and is also setting up a £0.25m accident management call centre. [14-Mar-2001]
Lloyds TSB is planning to create 500 more jobs at its call centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [14-Mar-2001]
Prudential is to acquire American General of the US in a £15bn all-share deal, as part of a strategy to create a global financial services group. [13-Mar-2001]
Barclays is to close its NuDelta IT processing department in Swindon later this year with the loss of 16 jobs, in order to transfer the work to Gloucestershire. [12-Mar-2001]
Chaucer Holdings, the Lloyd's insurance company, is raising £20m in a share placing and acquiring BRIT Insurance's stake in Chaucer Dedicated for £3.4m. [12-Mar-2001]
Cattles has raised £39m in a share placing and is planning to open a further 40-50 consumer credit branches this year. [09-Mar-2001]
Scottish Enterprise is planning to shed about 350 jobs over the next three years in order to improve productivity, which will affect its entire network of 13 Local Enterprise Companies. [08-Mar-2001]
Britannic is to stop selling life assurance on a door-to-door basis with the loss of 1,600 sales jobs and 400 back office jobs, and has also announced the £97m acquisition of the remaining 25% of Britannic Asset Management. [08-Mar-2001]
Portman Building Society is to start relocating 500 staff to a new £27m headquarters in Bournemouth in May, while a further 50 new jobs will be created. [07-Mar-2001]
Bank of Ireland is to open a new business centre in Edinburgh next month, employing five staff, and is now considering other locations around the UK. [06-Mar-2001]
De La Rue is acquiring ATS Money Systems, the US supplier of currency management systems to the retail sector, for £9.7m. [05-Mar-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is looking to expand its US business by acquiring retail banks in New England, and has also announced that negotiations are taking place for the sale of the former NatWest headquarters in Lothbury. [02-Mar-2001]
Bradford & Bingley is to close 11 bank branches and 57 estate agencies with the loss of about 300 jobs, while 20 branches will be merged with neighbouring locations. [01-Mar-2001]
Easier has closed down its internet-based estate agency business having failed to find a buyer, and the company will be turned into a cash shell. [01-Mar-2001]
Amvescap is to acquire National Asset Management of Kentucky for £208m, as part of a strategy to expand its fund management operations in the US. [01-Mar-2001]
Abbey National and Bank of Scotland have abandoned their plans for a merger, but talks could resume if the Lloyds TSB bid for Abbey is blocked by regulators. [01-Mar-2001]
Hermes Investment Management is to invest £2.5m in Equity.i, the independent research and advice service for quoted companies. [28-Feb-2001]
Bank of Scotland is planning to open Scotland's first drive-by bank at a Texaco station near Dunfermline, and is now seeking additional sites. [28-Feb-2001]
Zurich Financial Services is to outsource its systems development and IT support to IBM in a 10-year deal that will involve the transfer of 800 staff. [27-Feb-2001]
Millfield is to raise £18m in a flotation on Aim in order to fund the expansion of its independent financial advisory business. [27-Feb-2001]
Singer & Friedlander is planning to raise £64m from property disposals in order to fund acquisitions in fund management and private banking in the UK and continental Europe. [27-Feb-2001]
Lloyds TSB has started recruiting more than 250 new staff for its call centre at Tredegar Park in Newport. [26-Feb-2001]
Winterthur Life is to shed up to 60 jobs in Basingstoke this year, in order to cut back its estate agency division. [26-Feb-2001]
Miller Fisher, the insurance services company, is in takeover talks with an unnamed company, which could lead to a bid for the group. [26-Feb-2001]
Maclay Murray & Spens is planning to merge with Mackay Simon to create a combined Scottish law firm with 57 partners. [23-Feb-2001]
Provident Financial is planning to launch new credit and insurance operations in Hungary and Slovakia, as part of a strategy to increase its central European business to offset slowing growth in the UK. [23-Feb-2001]
Standard Chartered is looking to expand its retail banking and consumer debt operations in the Far East, and has confirmed plans to centralise its back-office processing and customer support functions at two hubs in India and Malaysia. [22-Feb-2001]
City Invoice Finance is looking to expand its factoring and invoice discount services into Yorkshire, the East Midlands, London and the south east, and may float the business to raise cash for expansion. [21-Feb-2001]
Citigroup has announced plans to expand its European operations from its new London headquarters, and will focus on investment banking, wealth management and credit cards. [21-Feb-2001]
AMP of Australia is planning to launch an online investment service in the UK, and customers will be able to seek guidance from call centre staff. [20-Feb-2001]
Bfinance, the financial services internet company, has raised £22m of second-round funding to develop its technology and strengthen its salesforce. [20-Feb-2001]
Lehman Brothers is to relocate the European headquarters of its investment banking business from the City of London to Canary Wharf, having decided against a move to Hackney. [16-Feb-2001]
Sun Life Financial of Canada is to shed 1,700 jobs in its UK insurance business, including 660 in direct sales, 120 in sales support and more than 900 at its Basingstoke head office. [16-Feb-2001]
Alliance & Leicester is planning to expand its chain of 309 branches this year, and will also install 1,500 new cash machines. [16-Feb-2001]
Abbey National is forming a joint venture with Electronic Data Systems of the US to handle servicing of mortgages and personal loans, and Abbey will transfer 1,700 staff to the new business. [14-Feb-2001]
Prudential is to shed 2,000 jobs in order to improve margins in its life assurance business, which will involve 250 job losses in Reading and the closure of its direct sales force to concentrate on telephone and internet sales. [14-Feb-2001]
Interactive Investor International is to outsource its transaction capabilities and reduce costs in its online personal finance business, which will lead to job losses among the 120 staff. [13-Feb-2001]
The Post Office has reached agreement with VIP.com for the installation of vending machines in up to 1,000 branches over the next three years, in order to sell telephone and online payment cards. [13-Feb-2001]
Britannia Building Society has acquired Platform Home Loans for £55m, in order to move into the market for non-conforming mortgages. [13-Feb-2001]
The Post Office is planning to launch stakeholder pensions in its 18,000 branches in April, managed by Standard Life. [12-Feb-2001]
Baillie Gifford is looking to expand its investment business into continental Europe, and is seeking alliances in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. [09-Feb-2001]
EVC Christows is planning to acquire Evolution Capital of London for £12m, in order to establish a corporate advisory business. [09-Feb-2001]
CGNU has sold State Insurance, the New Zealand supplier of personal and commercial insurance, to NRMA of Australia for £125m. [09-Feb-2001]
BWD Securities is planning to expand its financial services business into the south of England by forming alliances with independent financial advisers. [08-Feb-2001]
Barclays is to close its own-brand life insurance division with the loss of 750 jobs, mainly at Stratford in east London, and new pensions and life insurance business will be transferred to Legal & General. [08-Feb-2001]
Abbey National's First National Commercial Banking division has acquired the UK portfolio of investment property and nursing home mortgages owned by KBC of Belgium for £70m. [08-Feb-2001]
Bank of Ireland is to invest £8m in a customer contact centre in Newry, which will begin operations in July 2002 and create 300 jobs. [08-Feb-2001]
Bell Lawrie White is to expand its stockbroking business into independent financial planning, and will double the space at its Courthouse Square office in Dundee to cope with the additional workload. [08-Feb-2001]
Swinton Insurance has acquired Deansgate Insurance Group of Manchester for undisclosed terms, and 25 of the 35 branches will be closed with the staff transferring to Swinton. [08-Feb-2001]
Halifax has announced plans to create a further 400 jobs at its Card Services business in Cardiff this year. [07-Feb-2001]
Lloyds TSB has announced plans to set up a new wealth management division called Create, which will enable affluent investors to consolidate all their financial products into a single account. [07-Feb-2001]
McClure Naismith has announced plans to move to larger offices in Edinburgh later this year, recruit 40 lawyers and launch new legal services in banking and corporate finance. [06-Feb-2001]
Pointon York, the pensions management company, has sold its advisory business to Thomson's Group for undisclosed terms. [06-Feb-2001]
Charles Schwab is considering plans to install stockbroking counters in the 314 bank branches of Alliance & Leicester. [05-Feb-2001]
Halifax has agreed to acquire the assets of Equitable Life, the mutual life insurer, in a £1bn deal. [05-Feb-2001]
Friends Provident has sold its individual savings accounts and unit trust business to Friends Ivory & Sime for £129m, and is now planning to demutualise and seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange later this year. [05-Feb-2001]
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young is forming a business outsourcing alliance with the Vertex division of United Utilities, which will involve the transfer of 320 staff from Vertex to Cap Gemini. [05-Feb-2001]
QBE Insurance is to shed 120 jobs in the retail division of its Iron Trades insurance business in Middlesbrough. [02-Feb-2001]
Next has agreed to end two consumer finance joint ventures with Bank of Scotland, as part of a strategy to focus its Ventura division on the supply of call centre and customer management services. [02-Feb-2001]
Arthur Andersen is to acquire the UK division of Xpedior, the US web consultancy, for undisclosed terms, and the business will be renamed Arthur Andersen Digital Solutions. [02-Feb-2001]
Deutsche Bank is to shed 500 administration and back-office jobs in London, as part of a streamlining strategy that will reduce its global workforce by 2,600. [02-Feb-2001]
Northern Rock is to create 250 jobs at new administration headquarters in Gosforth and Sunderland this year. [01-Feb-2001]
TD Waterhouse is linking up with Charles Schwab to acquire Aitken Campbell, the Glasgow-based marketmaker, from Abbey National for £60m. [01-Feb-2001]
Brewin Dolphin is to shed 50 jobs in its Stocktrade division, and will delay floating the online stockbroking business for at least a year. [01-Feb-2001]
Halifax is in discussions to acquire Equitable Life's fund management business, administration systems and 450-strong salesforce. [01-Feb-2001]
Lloyds TSB has announced a formal £19bn takeover bid for Abbey National which could lead to the loss of 600 branches and 9,000 jobs, but Abbey has rejected the offer. [01-Feb-2001]
HSBC is to buy Barclays Bank's 13 branches and fund management operations in Greece. [31-Jan-2001]
Skandia Life is to create up to 450 jobs in Southampton this year, as it prepares to move into a new office at Liberty House in Commercial Road. [31-Jan-2001]
ING Group of the Netherlands is planning to shed 500 jobs at its investment banking division in London, and has also announced the £188m sale of the US operations of Barings to ABN Amro. [30-Jan-2001]
Next has sold Clydesdale Financial Services, its consumer credit business, to a management buy-in backed by Barclays Private Equity for £108m. [29-Jan-2001]
Zurich Financial Services is to rename its Allied Dunbar network of 4,700 advisers to the Zurich Advice Network, in order to strengthen the Zurich brand in the UK. [29-Jan-2001]
JP Morgan, the investment bank, is planning to recruit 100 software engineers at its technology centre in Glasgow this year, and a further 120 jobs are planned at its accounting subsidiary in Edinburgh. [24-Jan-2001]
Hiscox, the Lloyd's insurer, has received a £334m takeover approach from Chubb of the US. [24-Jan-2001]
Prudential has acquired Orico Life Insurance of Japan for £133m, and now plans to introduce new products and distribution channels to the Japanese market. [24-Jan-2001]
WILink.com is expanding its financial information business by acquiring Andersson & Nilsson of Sweden and Informed Investors of the US for a total £7m, while its David Conrad garments business is being sold to management for £1.4m. [22-Jan-2001]
Royal Bank of Scotland is to reorganise its wealth management operations by creating a separate private banking business, which will involve Child & Co and Drummonds Bank being placed under the control of Coutts. [22-Jan-2001]
PwC, the professional services firm, is to shed about 10% of its UK partners in order to eliminate unnecessary positions. [19-Jan-2001]
Unisys has won a £200m contract to manage Abbey Life's 1.5m life insurance policies, which will involve the transfer of about 1,000 jobs and the overhaul of computer systems. [19-Jan-2001]
E-Loan UK and E-Loan Europe are to close their internet-based personal finance businesses with the loss of 130 staff, unless a buyer can be found. [19-Jan-2001]
Credit Suisse First Boston is to shed up to 280 jobs at its investment banking operations in New York and London. [19-Jan-2001]
Abbey National is to relocate a customer service centre from Milton Keynes to Bradford, where it will create about 200 jobs. [18-Jan-2001]
First Tuesday, the organiser of internet networking meetings, may be sold by the Yazam venture capital fund to a group of its own network leaders. [18-Jan-2001]
Barclays has announced a deal to sell Legal & General pensions and investment funds, which will lead to the closure of its own life assurance and B2 retail fund management business and the loss of 750 jobs in the London area. [17-Jan-2001]
Britannia Building Society is to spend £40m updating its computer and IT systems, and aims to improve customer service by creating a fully-integrated system throughout the branches. [16-Jan-2001]
Axa Insurance is to create 60 new jobs at a call centre in Morecambe over the next few months. [16-Jan-2001]
Pinsent Curtis is planning to merge with Biddle to create a combined law firm with 518 lawyers. [16-Jan-2001]
Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, is considering plans to build a new £80m corporate headquarters at Northgate in Hackney. [15-Jan-2001]
Halifax is to close its business centre on Edinburgh's Haymarket Terrace in May, and the 90 staff will be redeployed at the Intelligent Finance division in Livingston and at retail branches. [12-Jan-2001]
Cox Insurance has expanded its network of Argent retail branches with the acquisition of Doncaster-based Bourne Swann for undisclosed terms. [12-Jan-2001]
Abbey National has awarded a £323m claims management outsourcing contract to Capita Group, and has also announced plans to withdraw from insurance underwriting. [11-Jan-2001]
Marsh is planning to create a further 100 jobs at its insurance office in Norwich. [10-Jan-2001]
Manchester Building Society has acquired a 10% stake in Rochdale-based MS Financial Services in order to move into the independent financial advice sector. [09-Jan-2001]
Axa Insurance is to create up to 200 new jobs at its Severalls Lane Industrial Estate call centre in Colchester. [08-Jan-2001]
CGNU is to set up a new Norwich Union regional sales office in Aberdeen, after restructuring its existing regions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. [05-Jan-2001]
HSBC is to buy the Indian retail banking operations of Deutsche Bank for undisclosed terms. [02-Jan-2001]
Tenon Group is planning to raise up to £75m in a rights issue in order to expand its accountancy business into support services and human resources. [02-Jan-2001]
Chelsea Building Society is expected to face a renewed call to convert into a bank at its annual meeting in April. [02-Jan-2001]
CGNU has sold two Canadian operations for a total £133m, with Manulife Financial acquiring Commercial Union Life Holdings and American International Group acquiring Norwich Union Holdings (Canada). [02-Jan-2001]
Foreign & Colonial, the fund manager, has been acquired by Eureko following the sale of Hypovereinsbank's 90% stake for £414m, and Eureko is planning to create a leading pan-European asset management business under the F&C brand. [02-Jan-2001]
Equitable Life has sold its Permanent Insurance division to Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society for £150m. [02-Jan-2001]