Call for RBS to drop fees on small business loans October 9, 2011 FORMER chancellor Nigel Lawson has called on the Treasury to force Royal Bank of Scotland to offer loans to small businesses on a not-for-profit basis. Lord Lawson of Blaby yesterday said increased lending to small businesses by RBS and, to a lesser extent, Lloyds – both state-owned – would boost the economy alongside Bank of [...]
Call for RBS to drop fees on small business loans October 9, 2011 FORMER chancellor Nigel Lawson has called on the Treasury to force Royal Bank of Scotland to offer loans to small businesses on a not-for-profit basis. Lord Lawson of Blaby yesterday said increased lending to small businesses by RBS and, to a lesser extent, Lloyds – both state-owned – would boost the economy alongside Bank of [...]
CHANCELLOR COURTS CHINESE CASHFLOW AT BUSINESS AWARDS November 8, 2011 GEORGE Osborne didn’t exactly say “give me all your money” to the assembled business leaders at the Orange National Business Awards. No, he phrased it rather more elegantly than that. “We need to see cash coming out of corporate balance sheets and into real investment prospects,” if The Capitalist’s memory serves correctly. So no prizes [...]
CHANCELLOR COURTS CHINESE CASHFLOW AT BUSINESS AWARDS November 8, 2011 GEORGE Osborne didn’t exactly say “give me all your money” to the assembled business leaders at the Orange National Business Awards. No, he phrased it rather more elegantly than that. “We need to see cash coming out of corporate balance sheets and into real investment prospects,” if The Capitalist’s memory serves correctly. So no prizes [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 10, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES EXXON SIGNS KURD EXPLORATION CONTRACTS ExxonMobil has become the first of the “supermajor” oil companies to venture into Kurdistan, in a controversial move that will be seen as a huge vote of confidence in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq but could spark a backlash in Baghdad. Exxon, the largest international oil company, signed [...]
Gulf Keystone drafts in former Army chief October 3, 2011 THE FORMER head of the British Army, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, has been appointed a non-executive director of oil company Gulf Keystone. Lord Guthrie, who was chief of the defence staff between 1997 and 2001, is a cross bench member of the House of Lords. He was director of NM Rothschild & Sons Limited from [...]
Lord Turner admits error in arguing for the euro October 23, 2011 LORD Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, yesterday admitted he “was wrong” to argue Britain should have joined the euro. Turner, a former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, argued in a 2002 paper that “joining the euro would increase our incomes and our standard of living.” “At each stage the [...]
Lord Turner admits error in arguing for the euro October 23, 2011 LORD Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, yesterday admitted he “was wrong” to argue Britain should have joined the euro. Turner, a former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, argued in a 2002 paper that “joining the euro would increase our incomes and our standard of living.” “At each stage the [...]
RBS: WHO TAKES THE BLAME? December 12, 2011 Sir Fred Goodwin The FSA had harboured worries about Fred the Shred’s internal dominance as far back as 2003. It criticised the ABN Amro deal, his brainchild, as a “gamble” and dismissed the due diligence carried out as little more than “two lever arch folders and a CD”. Goodwin’s relationship with the FSA slumped to [...]
RBS: WHO TAKES THE BLAME? December 12, 2011 Sir Fred Goodwin The FSA had harboured worries about Fred the Shred’s internal dominance as far back as 2003. It criticised the ABN Amro deal, his brainchild, as a “gamble” and dismissed the due diligence carried out as little more than “two lever arch folders and a CD”. Goodwin’s relationship with the FSA slumped to [...]