City Index joins GC-H creditor queue

A fabulous story from the Daily Telegraph today which should act as a warning to anyone thinking of opening a spread betting account.
Geoffrey Conway-Henderson (crazy name, really crazy guy) was one of the first people hired by Michael Spencer, the founder of interdealer broker ICAP, when he was setting up the business. So one can assume he trousered a few sovs during his career.
Sadly, GC-H seems to have given most of it back to Spencer via City Index, the spread betting business the Tory treasurer also set up.

This prompts a couple of thoughts. One: these people can't help themselves - if you make a million in the City, go home, stop reading the FT and learn how to cook.
Two: If even City "experts" like Conway-Henderson can lose their shirt (if not all of their names) spread betting really is very risky. Like the ads say, you may lose more than your initial stake...

Crash Gordon shares Spencer's pain

ICAP boss and Tory Party Treasurer, Michael Spencer, who sold shares in the interdealer broker shortly before its profits warning last week, says that when he made the trade he'd no idea the bad news was coming. He wasn't the only one. Analysts at Panmure Gordon have been continually pushing the shares - now trading at around 310p - as a "buy" since November. Last month they told clients to wade in at 456p. D'oh!

ICAP walks the protection plank

The latest act of piracy on the high seas reminds me that there is almost always a few quid to be made out of even the most depressing situation.
The renaissance of the pirate has enabled interdealer broker, ICAP, to build up a steady trade in the protection business, by supplying freight ships with commandos (some might call them mercenaries).
Treble (rums) all round!

Fancy that...

No mention in the Daily Mail this morning that Viscount Rothermere, chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust, has joined the likes of Michael Spencer at ICAP, Tim Martin at JD Wetherspoon and Brian Souter at Stagecoach, in pledging shares as security for a loan.
So we best go back to Ben Laurence's Mail column of January 10, to find out what the newspaper really thinks about this practice.
Then Laurence wrote: "The upshot is that directors who have used shares as collateral to obtain a loan without disclosing the fact will escape any penalty whatsoever. Frankly, this looks like a shambles. Too often, the regulatory regime covering the City and financial services looks rickety. The fact that people who have patently broken the directors' code and violated the spirit of the disclosure requirements are now going to escape censure or punishment is lamentable."
Oh well.