RAPID RESPONSES July 3, 2012 The firing line There is no doubt that an inquiry is called for in the Libor manipulation saga, but the fines should be targeted at the dealers and the management, not the banks. Shareholders did not have a say in the internal dirty dealings, nor did they share much of the loot. Bonuses mostly went [...]
RAPID responses July 1, 2012 No light touch [Re: From boom to bezzle: this banking scandal will run and run, Friday] The chief big lie in this whole saga is the idea that banks faced light touch regulation. The Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000, was never ever light touch. Wrong touch, yes. Mis-touch, certainly. And definitely overweening and prescriptive, [...]
Price pressures taking heavy toll on elderly, groups claim June 25, 2012 INFLATION expectations have fallen again, the latest YouGov report showed yesterday, although separate data showed that price hikes are still taking their toll on the elderly. The median inflation expectation for the year ahead fell to 2.4 per cent, from 2.8 per cent in May and three per cent in April, YouGov found. The results [...]
Invensys tanks after admitting end of bid talks June 21, 2012 INVENSYS shares plunged 14 per cent to 220p yesterday after the engineering technology company disclosed it had received a takeover approach from Emerson Electric but admitted that discussions are over. It is understood that tight-lipped Invensys, which had until yesterday refused to comment on takeover speculation despite ongoing fluctuation in its share price, issued the statement [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 30, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Transparency on banks’ treasury units urged International banks must improve disclosure of often obscure treasury unit investments following the recent $2bn trading loss at JPMorgan’s chief investment office, rating agencies and bank analysts have urged. Malaysia fund nears £375m Battersea deal A Malaysian pension fund is poised to seal a £375m deal to [...]
Woodford ends unfair dismissal fight with former firm Olympus May 29, 2012 EX-OLYMPUS boss Michael Woodford has won a settlement, thought to be worth millions of pounds, from his disgraced former employer, camera maker Olympus. The British businessman, 51, agreed a deal after a night of negotiations triggered when he took his unfair dismissal claim to a London employment tribunal. It appears to end for Woodford a [...]
Greggs lifted by government rethink on VAT May 29, 2012 SHARES in the UK’s biggest bakery chain Greggs leapt eight per cent yesterday as businesses welcomed the government’s U-turn on its controversial changes to the so-called pasty tax. Plans in the Budget would have seen foods charged 20 per cent VAT if they were sold at “above ambient temperature”, hitting shops such as bakers, which [...]
Greggs lifted by government rethink on VAT May 29, 2012 SHARES in the UK’s biggest bakery chain Greggs leapt eight per cent yesterday as businesses welcomed the government’s U-turn on its controversial changes to the so-called pasty tax. Plans in the Budget would have seen foods charged 20 per cent VAT if they were sold at “above ambient temperature”, hitting shops such as bakers, which [...]
Osborne’s U-turn comes as UK celebrates tax freedom day May 28, 2012 CONGRATULATIONS: you’ve just started to work for yourself. Today is tax freedom day, the day when Britons stop working for the chancellor and start working for themselves. The Adam Smith Institute has calculated that for the first 149 days of the year, every penny earned by the average UK resident will be taken by the [...]
Delpy film is a slog of a family saga in NYC May 17, 2012 FILM TWO DAYS IN NEW YORK Cert: 15 | Zoe Strimpel ** Two Days In New York is probably the least catchy title of all time. Marginally less catchy, even, then Two Days in Paris, the popular film of which this is the sequel. Indeed, this is as much of a depressing slog to watch [...]