The music stops for UK breaks on bankruptcies January 25, 2012 THE singer Kenny Rogers once sang “you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run”. While Rogers was singing about a gambler, he could just as easily have been singing about the Irish people’s attitude to their bankruptcy regime. Increasingly the people [...]
Banks pitch £4bn credit easing plan November 10, 2011 BANKS have pitched a credit easing scheme that would flood small businesses with up to £4bn of new loans within a year of being launched, City A.M. has learned. In a confidential policy paper sent to HM Treasury last week and seen by City A.M., Britain’s biggest lenders have proposed a plan that would see [...]
OSBORNE TO REVEAL PAY OF 120 TOP UK BANKERS December 6, 2011 SENIOR banking executives face having their pay packages published after chancellor George Osborne unveiled a new transparency regime for the 15 largest banks operating in the UK. The Treasury says the new rules, which demand the publication of rewards given to the eight most senior non-board executives, will help investors police a bank’s “risk profile”. [...]
GOLD REMAINS A PRECIOUS COMPONENT OF A PORTFOLIO January 16, 2012 Ionce heard an analyst say that gold should be viewed as an insurance policy, not as an investment. That’s good advice for anyone who is contemplating a position in the yellow metal in 2012. Gold has very little industrial use and yields no return, so its investment credentials are dubious. However, throughout history gold has [...]
CBI: slash national insurance for companies hiring young jobless October 30, 2011 CUTTING national insurance contributions for companies employing young workers and strengthening links between schools and businesses will cut youth unemployment, the Confederation of British industry (CBI) claimed today. Giving companies a “young Britain credit” worth £1500 to take on unemployed staff aged between 16 and 24 will cover the first year of national insurance for [...]
FTSE given lift by airline deal December 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 nudged up this morning led by BA owner International Airlines group (IAG) which announced a deal for Lufthansa’s bmi. Overall European shares started higher with the FTSEurofirst 300 index gaining around one per cent in early trade while global stocks, as measured by MSCI world equity index, were edged up 0.2 per [...]
Romney seeks a third victory to gain nomination January 12, 2012 IT MAY pain the political class, but Mitt Romney deserves some credit. He has now accomplished what Reagan, both Bushes, Dole, and McCain all failed to do – win both Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney now finds himself heading to South Carolina searching for an unprecedented hat-trick. Although surrounded by loyal supporters, Romney’s victory remarks [...]
Markets choppy as Europe rift widens December 9, 2011 The FTSE began to slip this morning as investors digested the impact of a new Eurozone agreement over fiscal integration which was shunned by Britain. Britain torpedoed the chances of a consensus as Prime Minister David Cameron refused to accept plans for a financial transactions tax that would clobber the City. Three French banks were [...]
The latest plan to rescue the Eurozone is flawed: It sets the scene for another crisis October 19, 2011 AS EUROZONE leaders gear up for their umpteenth summit to solve the Eurozone crisis, they seem to have reached the conclusion that what the Eurozone needs is more leverage. Not only that, but they seem to believe that the best way to achieve this would be through using the EFSF, the Eurozone’s bailout fund, to [...]
The latest plan to rescue the Eurozone is flawed: It sets the scene for another crisis October 19, 2011 AS EUROZONE leaders gear up for their umpteenth summit to solve the Eurozone crisis, they seem to have reached the conclusion that what the Eurozone needs is more leverage. Not only that, but they seem to believe that the best way to achieve this would be through using the EFSF, the Eurozone’s bailout fund, to [...]