Merlin claims to boost lending to businesses February 9, 2011 HOUSTON, we have an agreement.” So joked one of the chancellor’s key allies yesterday, clearly relieved to have finally signed a deal of sorts with the four Merlin banks. But the government has got precious little for the weeks it has spent locked in negotiations with HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays. Here City A.M. looks [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 3, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MADEJSKI IN TALKS TO RESTRUCTURE GROUP DEBT Sir John Madejski, the owner of Reading Football Club, is in talks to restructure a loan that backed the expansion of his property empire after the crash in regional property values led to a breach in the covenants of the debt. The wealthy former media magnate’s [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 24, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FSA CHIEF SEEKS NEW SAFEGUARDS The head of the Financial Services Authority has called for a “radical rethink” of consumer protection in the UK, including the possible imposition of fee caps and bans on some retail financial products. The regulator has historically adopted a “light touch” approach for the regulation of financial products, [...]
US wholesalers report sales jump January 11, 2011 US wholesalers saw their sales rise well ahead of expectations in November while inventories fell for the first time in more than a year, a government report has shown. The news is an unexpected boost to perceptions of the US recovery, offering a fresh sign of strengthening demand throughout the holiday shopping season. The Commerce [...]
US wholesalers report sales jump January 11, 2011 US wholesalers saw their sales rise well ahead of expectations in November while inventories fell for the first time in more than a year, a government report has shown. The news is an unexpected boost to perceptions of the US recovery, offering a fresh sign of strengthening demand throughout the holiday shopping season. The Commerce [...]
Ireland passes record austerity budget December 7, 2010 THE IRISH government has narrowly passed the harshest budget ever proposed, to make the necessary savings for it to receive EU and IMF rescue funds. It has set out austerity measures for 2011 that impose €6bn (£5bn) of spending cuts and tax rises on the country, including cuts to child benefit and public sector pensions. [...]
Ireland passes record austerity budget December 7, 2010 THE IRISH government has narrowly passed the harshest budget ever proposed, to make the necessary savings for it to receive EU and IMF rescue funds. It has set out austerity measures for 2011 that impose €6bn (£5bn) of spending cuts and tax rises on the country, including cuts to child benefit and public sector pensions. [...]
Britain’s best drafted in to run Whitehall December 15, 2010 THE Cabinet Office yesterday published a list of top business leaders who have been appointed as non-executive directors to sit on Whitehall boards. The appointments are designed to ensure the government operates in a more business like manner and are the brainchild of Cabinet office minister Francis Maude and Lord Browne, the recent author of [...]
Britain’s best drafted in to run Whitehall December 15, 2010 THE Cabinet Office yesterday published a list of top business leaders who have been appointed as non-executive directors to sit on Whitehall boards. The appointments are designed to ensure the government operates in a more business like manner and are the brainchild of Cabinet office minister Francis Maude and Lord Browne, the recent author of [...]
Q&A BIS FUNDING December 9, 2010 Q. Does the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) have programs that help entrepreneurs? What are they? A.BIS has several programs that can give extra funding to entrepreneurs. Chief among them are the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) and the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF). EFGs are bank loans intended for small and medium sized enterprises [...]