The club has formerly seen on-pitch performances by the institution’s top dogs, including former deputy governor Ernest Harvey (though I understand our Merv and most of his close allies at the top of the Bank prefer to watch rugby than get muddy on the pitch these days ). Intriguing, as one eagle-eyed reader points out, to note the recent performance of the Bank of England Rugby Football Club – which can trace back its history for well over 100 years and rules that any player must either have a family or historical connection to the Bank or be invited by a current team member. Luckily for him, Chelsea, which relies on Roman Abramovich’s largesse, is unlikely to issue such securities any time soon. Moore assures us that the two things are unconnected, adding: “I wouldn’t recommend any high yield security from a football club.” The whole affair does have a deliciously dangerous ring to it.Ī couple of facts to point out about Evolution’s Jonathan Moore, one of the City’s most respected high-yield analysts.įirstly, that he’s one of the most bearish experts out there on Manchester United’s new £500m bond, which he reckons is far riskier than offerings out there from comparable issuers.Īnd secondly, that he is a dedicated Chelsea Football Club fan and a season ticket holder. “However, he’s clearly confident and has played before, or he would be in danger of getting his fingers sliced off…” “He is indeed very sporty – things like skiing, tennis, going to the gym – but there’s no particular affinity with ice hockey,” a spokeswoman explains. Perhaps it’s not quite as strange as it seems – Thomson Reuters, after all, is sponsoring the Wharf’s ice rink this year, and the gaming element is a nod to the winter party theme.īut does Glocer himself have a sporting secret he’s omitted to tell us about? Any chance they’d reconsider, all in aid of a good cause?Ī bizarre summons pops into my inbox: namely, an invitation to play ice hockey in Canary Wharf with none other than Tom Glocer, the jovial chief of info giant Thomson Reuters. Personally, The Capitalist would love to see the January gloom brightened by some good old-fashioned fisticuffs between two of the City’s best-known heavyweights. “But we do have the same trainer – Mark Jarvis, to whom I introduced Terry originally.” “Goodness, Terry is much better than me and he’s my client, so I’m not entirely sure it would be good for business,” laughs Rosenblatt, good-naturedly. Yet word reaches The Capitalist that Smith would also be keen to try his chances in a friendly boxing fight with Ian Rosenblatt, chief of the solicitors’ firm of the same name, which is acting for him in the aforementioned court case. Tullett’s boss, City veteran Terry Smith, is well known for his prowess as an amateur boxer, having oft challenged his arch-rival, Icap’s Michael Spencer, to a round in the ring (as yet unsuccessfully). THE High Court case rumbling on and on between BGC Partners and Tullett Prebon might not have exactly brought the City’s main money broking camps closer together, but at least it’s helped forge some more playful liaisons between those on the same side.