Rate-riggers to face trial in USA December 19, 2012 SWISS bank UBS was yesterday hit with almost £1bn of fines for Libor fixing around the globe – a fine three times larger than the penalty paid by British bank Barclays in June. And the US authorities announced two former traders, including one Briton, have been charged with conspiracy and face extradition. Dozens of traders [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 16, 2012 YOU DON’T have to understand how silicon chips work to buy a silicon chip maker, but you do have to understand what they are used for, as well as some of the basics of manufacturing process such as the inputs and costs. On the other hand, simple products like mortgages can be wrapped in businesses [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 16, 2012 YOU DON’T have to understand how silicon chips work to buy a silicon chip maker, but you do have to understand what they are used for, as well as some of the basics of manufacturing process such as the inputs and costs. On the other hand, simple products like mortgages can be wrapped in businesses [...]
Gove’s reforms will help better equip young people for life September 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S poor educational standards are a national scandal and a key reason why the UK’s productivity continues to lag. The problem is not with graduates of our top universities, though even they could do better. The real crisis is that thousands of school leavers and even, in some cases, graduates from other universities, end up [...]
Consumers hit by energy and mortgage price hikes August 22, 2012 CONSUMERS are facing up to an autumn of painful price rises after one of the country’s biggest energy suppliers yesterday hiked its charges, just hours after Santander confirmed that it would increase the interest rate on many of its mortgages. SSE, formerly Scottish and Southern Energy, said a nine per cent jump in tariffs from [...]
Decline in homeownership is the result of bonkers red tape December 12, 2012 AS ever, the census is chock-a-block with fascinating statistics, including about the major demographic shifts that this country is undergoing. London has become a European version of New York, a cosmopolitan, global melting pot. It also reveals a number of worrying trends. Just 64 per cent (14.9m) of households owned their own home in 2011, [...]
Decline in homeownership is the result of bonkers red tape December 11, 2012 AS ever, the census is chock-a-block with fascinating statistics, including about the major demographic shifts that this country is undergoing. London has become a European version of New York, a cosmopolitan, global melting pot. It also reveals a number of worrying trends. Just 64 per cent (14.9m) of households owned their own home in 2011, [...]
Your first move onto the property ladder September 9, 2012 UK HOUSE prices saw their biggest fall for a year in the three months to July 2012, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). But the capital is bucking the trend. London property prices grew by 6.5 per cent over the last year, according to last quarter’s Greater London Authority London Housing Market [...]
British Bankers’ Association mulls merger in hunt for cash December 12, 2012 SUPERMARKET own-label ranges, package holidays and … City lobbying groups? Punters’ desire for value-for-money appears to be stretching further than ever in gloomy economic times. That’s the conundrum confronting my fellow City A.M. columnist Anthony Browne, recently installed as chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Relinquishing its role in supervising the Libor-setting process [...]
Give yourself a bit of credit November 4, 2012 OVER £12.6bn was spent on credit cards in September 2012 alone. They’re a convenient way to manage your expenses — you can spread the cost of large purchases, give yourself an extra layer of protection against fraud, and they could help you build up a good credit history if used sensibly. But given the size [...]