Cameron appoints his coalition cabinet May 12, 2010 1. DAVID CAMERON Prime Minister Tory leader becomes PM, as well as First Lord to the Treasury 2. NICK CLEGG Deputy Prime Minister Liberal Democrat leader is Deputy PM, overseeing political reform 3. GEORGE OSBORNE Chancellor Former shadow chancellor is moving in to Number 11 4. WILLIAM HAGUE Foreign Secretary A former Tory leader, Hague [...]
OSBORNE: BANK IS KING OF CITY June 16, 2010 GEORGE Osborne unveiled sweeping changes to the way the City is regulated last night, scrapping the Financial Services Authority and giving a beefed-up Bank of England huge powers. Bank governor Mervyn King is set to become one of most influential central bankers in the world under the shake-up, with responsibility for maintaining the overall stability [...]
Budd insists that OBR is independent July 13, 2010 THE head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was yesterday forced to deny there was a conspiracy to revise down how many jobs would be lost through George Osborne’s budget. Sir Alan Budd received a grilling from the Treasury select committee yesterday over accusations his Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) came under government pressure [...]
WHO’S CALLING THE ECONOMIC SHOTS? May 12, 2010 Q. WHICH POLITICIANS WILL MAKE UP THE NEW TREASURY? A. George Osborne, David Cameron’s sidekick as shadow chancellor during the Tories’ past few years in opposition, becomes chancellor of the Exchequer, the second biggest role in government. His deputy will be Liberal Democrat negotiator David Laws, the party’s former schools spokesman and the MP for [...]
Grim is the new Nice for the economy July 5, 2010 ECONOMISTS at Morgan Stanley have coined a great phrase to describe what we will be living through over the next few years: it will be Grim – Growth Really Is Mediocre. That is in stark contrast to the Nice years – the Non-Inflationary Consistent Expansion originally described by Mervyn King. It is also in stark [...]
Obama’s bank reformer says UK should copy US bank rules May 13, 2010 PAUL Volcker, the 82-year-old adviser to Barack Obama on financial regulation, held a meeting yesterday at the Bank of England at which he is believed to have advised the governor of the need to rein in UK banks in the name of reducing risk in the financial system. Minutes before dashing to a meeting with [...]
UK needs flexible immigration to lure talent May 23, 2010 AS THE political dust kicked up by the election settles and the financial reform agenda takes shape, it is clear that the City lies at a crossroads. Although we wish to ensure the UK remains home to a world-leading financial services sector, and an excellent place to work and live for future generations, there is [...]
Tories prepare the ground for spending cuts May 16, 2010 MOST governments leave behind an unwieldy in-tray, but Labour has laced the departments of Whitehall with landmines. That was the assessment of David Willets, the universities and science minister, upon finding that Lord Mandelson had announced large cuts to the universities budget without deciding where the axe would fall. Elsewhere, Tory spinners talk of a [...]
Advisers tell clients to ditch investments that attract CGT May 20, 2010 FINANCIAL advisers are telling their clients to ditch investments that will be hit by an impending hike in capital gains tax (CGT). According to a survey of 204 independent financial advisers (IFAs) by financial technology firm 1st Exchange, 60 per cent are advising clients to steer clear of assets that attract CGT. The Liberal-Conservative coalition [...]
BOXING BANKERS UNLEASH THEIR BULLISH INSTINCTS IN THE RING June 27, 2010 ONE of the City’s biggest bankers’ boxing clubs is setting up a championship fight for a charity night soon. The Real Fight Club in Spitalfields, London’s original home to the practise of “white collar boxing” (i.e. boxing by bankers) is holding a boxing showcase evening on 15 July and expects to see a City audience [...]