|
 Lim Yin Foong was editor of Personal Money, a Malaysian personal finance magazine published by The Edge Communications, from 2001 to 2006. She is currently based in the UK.
|
|
Lim Yin Foong: The new face of British banking |
 |
 |
 |
Tags: Barclays | HSBC | Lloyds Banking Group | Royal Bank of Scotland | Santander
|
Written by Lim Yin Foong
|
|
Saturday, 06 March 2010 10:02 |
|
IMAGINE A BANK that operates seven days a week, where you can open a bank account in 15 minutes and receive your credit card, debit card and chequebook immediately. Standard practice in Asia, you may say. It’s expected of our banks, you may add. Here in the UK, however, where consumers have resigned themselves to dreadful service levels and appalling lead times — up to 10 days to receive one’s cards and chequebook — such instantaneous, customer-focused service is nothing short of phenomenal.
|
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 06 March 2010 10:07 |
|
|
Lim Yin Foong: UK commercial property back on investors’ radar |
|
|
|
Tags: British Land | Hammerson | Henderson | Land Securities | New Star Asset Management
|
Written by Lim Yin Foong
|
|
Saturday, 13 February 2010 14:29 |
|
VISITORS TO LONDON’S Square Mile are often awestruck by the iconic Gherkin building (picture, far right), but they may soon have another unique structure to gawk at, as the “Walkie Talkie” tower looks set to join the skyline sooner than expected.
Improving sentiment about the UK capital’s commercial property sector is fuelling talk that the development of 20 Fenchurch Street in the heart of London’s financial district may proceed soon, with developer Land Securities said to be “beginning to look at timings” on the project. The “Walkie Talkie” tower, as it is popularly known because its top is wider than the bottom, had been put on hold because of the economic downturn, despite receiving the necessary approvals last May.
|
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 13 February 2010 14:37 |
|
Lim Yin Foong: Financial sector’s centre of gravity moves East |
|
|
|
Tags: Goldman Sachs | JP Morgan
|
Written by Lim Yin Foong
|
|
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 07:09 |
|
AS A NEW decade dawns upon the City of London, its continued viability as a leading financial centre has never seemed less certain. News that the UK’s third-largest hedge fund Bluecrest Capital Management is moving 50 of its top-earning managers to its newly set up office in Geneva is fuelling already rife speculation of a possible exodus of hedge funds from the UK.
With £10 billion ($22.7 billion) under management, Bluecrest is reportedly the first sizeable business to move part of its operations to Switzerland. However, at least 23 hedgefund firms have already relocated to the alpine nation in the past two years, and consulting firm Kinetic Partners LLP, which assisted these hedge funds in their relocation, expects up to 150 hedge funds to leave London.
|
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 23 January 2010 07:12 |
|
Lim Yin Foong: British retailers battle online foes for thrifty customers |
|
|
|
|
Written by Lim Yin Foong
|
|
Saturday, 05 December 2009 10:39 |
|
EYE-CATCHING SIGNS proclaiming “Closing down sale. All stock reduced. Everything must go.” are currently plastered all over our neighbourhood Borders bookstore here in Norwich, the UK. The sight of shoppers picking through merchandise on half-empty shelves is reminiscent of the retail scene a year ago, when the financial meltdown forced major High Street retailers such as Woolworths and Zavvi to close down.
The reason for Borders UK’s collapse isn’t only due to the tightened credit environment that afflicted retailers this time last year. The bookseller, with 45 stores nationwide, has been badly hit by increased competition from Internet retailers and supermarkets.
|
|
Lim Yin Foong: UK awaits new banks, new era of regulation |
|
|
|
Tags: Barclays | HSBC | Lloyds Banking Group | Royal Bank of Scotland Group
|
Written by Lim Yin Foong
|
|
Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:47 |
|
MENTION BANKS AT a dinner party, and it’s not just the government bailouts and excessive bonuses that people are talking about. Abysmal levels of customer service, opaque pricing structures, and archaic, inefficient systems are just some of the gripes that dinner party guests often bring to the table.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that many British bank consumers are looking forward to the prospect of a radical shake-up of the retail banking industry. Earlier this month, chancellor Alistair Darling announced plans to sell off parts of three government- rescued banks to new entrants to the industry in an effort to recoup some of British taxpayers’ funds used in the banks’ bailouts last year.
|
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:52 |
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 2 |
BLOG HEADS 
