Cable’s plan for pay votes splits the City March 14, 2012 VINCE Cable’s plans to crack down on executive pay split opinion yesterday, with shareholder groups welcoming the proposals as business leaders warned that the plans risk “micro-managing”. The business secretary yesterday laid out plans to force firms to hold binding votes on its future remuneration and for “golden parachute” payments worth more than one year’s [...]
Compliance isn’t the easy path to fortune March 21, 2012 A RECENT Thomson Reuters survey of 500 compliance officers at financial services firms emphasised two things about the extraordinary growth in the importance of the profession in today’s job market. Firstly, it showed how lucrative compliance roles have become – 70 per cent expected the cost of senior compliance staff to be higher in 2012. [...]
Lawyers: Removing pension tax relief will hit savers twice March 7, 2012 LAWYERS and pension funds yesterday hit out at proposals to remove tax relief from high-earners’ pension contributions, arguing it would be unfair and overly complicated. Removing the relief on employee contributions for those earning over £150,000 a year could be a tempting move for the government, raising around £8bn per year for the Treasury. However, [...]
City’s lawyers see rise in pay and bonuses January 18, 2012 CITY lawyers enjoyed an average increase of almost £10,000 on annual bonuses last year, up 25 per cent from the previous year, according to research out this morning from legal recruiter Laurence Simons. The 2011 average was £35,500 – up from £26,500 in 2010. However, the number of lawyers who received a bonus fell last [...]
Warrant for Kazakh bank boss who snubbed court February 16, 2012 AN ARREST warrant was issued yesterday for Kazakh billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former BTA Bank chairman accused of embezzling up to $5bn (£3.2bn) from the bank. Mr Justice Teare found the tycoon – who fled to the UK in 2009 – in contempt of court for breaching orders related to the freezing of his assets, [...]
Cameron calls on insurers to cut premiums February 13, 2012 DAVID Cameron will today announce plans to reduce insurance premiums by cutting red tape, reducing legal bills and tackling the high number of spurious claims. Proposals include a plan to reduce the number of whiplash claims by enforcing a higher evidence threshold for injuries and cutting the £1,200 fee that lawyers can earn for small [...]
Cameron calls on insurers to cut premiums February 13, 2012 DAVID Cameron will today announce plans to reduce insurance premiums by cutting red tape, reducing legal bills and tackling the high number of spurious claims. Proposals include a plan to reduce the number of whiplash claims by enforcing a higher evidence threshold for injuries and cutting the £1,200 fee that lawyers can earn for small [...]
Pinsent Masons and McGrigors confirm merger February 6, 2012 CITY law firm Pinsent Masons yesterday confirmed it will merge with Edinburgh-based McGrigors, in a legal tie-up to create a company with a turnover of more than £300m. The combined firm will employ over 2,500 people in total including more than 1,500 lawyers, with around 500 based at Pinsents current headquarters in the legal heart [...]
The rising star tasked with proving the Labour party isn’t anti-business October 30, 2011 WHEN I first met Chuka Umunna, shortly after his election in 2010, it was already clear he was one of Labour’s rising stars. But few thought the MP for Streatham would ascend through the ranks quite so quickly. At the time, he told me he would use his first term to learn the ropes as [...]
All tax rates are too high in Britain March 1, 2012 IT was good to see yet more entrepreneurs and small business owners joining in the campaign to scrap the 50p tax rate yesterday. But supporters of the tax were also out in force yesterday; they deployed three main arguments. The first is that “bankers” (in modern parlance, anybody who works in finance, including fund managers, [...]