Barclays could face prosecution after judge derides £190m settlement offer August 17, 2010 BARCLAYS is nervously awaiting the outcome of a legal case in the US today that could leave the banking group facing criminal charges over payments linked to countries barred from trading with the States. A federal judge, who will decide whether to accept Barclays’ $298m (£190m) offer to settle the case, called the bank’s agreement [...]
Home-builders ramp up incentives to lure hard-up first-time buyers December 2, 2010 HOME-BUILDERS have always offered buyers deals, but some are more valuable than others. Take, for example, the West Bromwich Building Society’s offer in 2004 of a free Rover car worth over £7,000 – a year before the car-maker went into administration. The downturn has left house-builders with new-builds sitting empty all over the country, and [...]
CITY A.M. | SHADOW MPC September 8, 2010 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “Rates should be raised by 25 basis points as a symbolic hike to show that the MPC is serious about targeting inflation. The economy is growing, albeit slowly, with yesterday’s factory stats further evidence that we won’t suffer a double-dip recession.” SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “Raise by 25 basis points. [...]
Rail revolution opens new areas for commuters December 2, 2010 ASK any Londoner what irritates them most about the city and they will say two things. First, the transport is rubbish and second, it is too hard to buy a decent, affordable home. For families who want their children to grow up outside London, the misery of the commute has to be weighed against the [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS June 24, 2010 PAY BY CARD TO GAIN REWARDS Savvy shoppers could earn substantial rewards by whacking all their day-to-day spending on the plastic. Based on an average household spend of £386.30 per week on a reward credit card, and by paying off the balance in full each month, Confused.com research shows after just one year, some of [...]
Alan Sugar puts his £120m Mayfair properties up for sale July 25, 2010 LORD Alan Sugar’s real estate firm is to sell off three properties in Mayfair, with a pre-crisis price-tag of £120m. Amsprop, managed by Lord Sugar’s son Daniel, has decided to finally cash in on climbing property values in the West End after several offers in recent months. Daniel Sugar said: “We have received unsolicited approaches [...]
Sovereign debt fears drag business confidence down July 8, 2010 ONGOING fears about the impact of the sovereign debt crisis dragged businesses confidence down in June, according to the latest Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Business Barometer. The survey – a snapshot of businesses’ views on their own performance and wider economic prospects – shows that firms are far less optimistic about the economic outlook than [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHERE DO YOU SEE THE CITY JOBS MArket HEADING? July 6, 2010 DAVID HALE | QBE INSURANCE “I don’t think there are going to be more jobs in the near future. Companies seem to still be making redundancies, and people are just grateful they have a job at all. It’s people coming back in to the jobs market, rather than moving around.” JASON BRUNTON | FRL RECRUITMENT [...]
Firms’ sanctions compliance must be tightened up August 31, 2010 FINANCIAL regulation reform is all the rage. Last week, President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled his programme of “action and ambition” for France’s forthcoming presidency of the G20. It puts global reform of financial markets and systems at the very top of the agenda. The US has already passed sweeping reform legislation and the coalition government has [...]
Business confidence hit by Eurozone health fears June 10, 2010 CONCERNS over the health of the Eurozone have dragged business confidence down from April’s two-year high, according to a snapshot from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets. The proportion of boards expecting an upturn in trading over the coming year fell 11 per cent to just under a third, the bank said in a monthly update. Managers’ [...]