Greek jibes anger Mandelson January 31, 2010 BUSINESS secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday dismissed Tory claims that the UK was facing a Greek-style sovereign debt crisis and accused the Conservative opposition of being “unpatriotic”. Mandelson’s comments came as Conservative leader David Cameron softened his stance on fiscal tightening, saying that he did not plan “swingeing cuts” immediately after the election. Cameron said that [...]
Myners: Banks could still be hit with US-style levy January 18, 2010 CITY Minister Lord Myners has warned that a US-style levy on banks could still be slapped on the UK. His comments came after Chancellor Alistair Darling had appeared to rule out the move. US president Barack Obama is hitting US banks with a 0.15 per cent charge on liabilities in a bid to recoup at [...]
MYNERS: WE DON’T WANT OBAMA PLAN January 24, 2010 CITY minister Lord Myners yesterday poured cold water on President Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul the banking rules, warning that Britain would not be following the proposed US reforms. Myners told City A.M. that efforts by the US administration to curtail banks’ investments in hedge funds, private equity and proprietary trading were “in no way [...]
Election2010 January 17, 2010 THERE was confusion over the government’s policy on the 50p tax rate yesterday, after the Treasury appeared to contradict remarks made by Lord Mandelson. When asked about the top rate of tax for workers earning over £150,000, Mandelson said: “I would favour, when financial circumstances permit, for the top rate to come down, just as [...]
Economists in dispute over BoE strategy January 14, 2010 ECONOMISTS proved divided over the success of the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) policy at a roundtable hosted by the Bank of England and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). A summary of the discussion, which took place on 15 December, was released yesterday on the condition that participants were kept anonymous. It [...]
Foreign banks urged to lend to UK firms December 7, 2009 FOREIGN banks were yesterday asked to provide billions of pounds in loans to cash-strapped small businesses at a secret meeting with chancellor Alistair Darling and business secretary Lord Mandelson. The government lobbied senior executives from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and BNP Paribas at a covert meeting in a bid to get [...]
Lawson sets up think-tank on the climate November 23, 2009 EX-CHANCELLOR and climate change sceptic Lord Lawson launched a cross-party global warming think-tank yesterday, which will have an ex-senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister and a former deputy chairman of Barclays on its board. The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), which is being launched just a fortnight before the United Nations’ (UN) climate change [...]
Meet the man who would be king: a radical dressed in Liberal clothing February 23, 2010 THE Liberal Democrats have never held much sway in the City. Their traditional supporters prefer a sleepy, polite way of life – not the cut and thrust of the Square Mile. If the opinion polls are to be believed, however, Nick Clegg is set to play the role of kingmaker in a hung parliament after [...]
The man with the Midas touch January 28, 2010 FEW people can say that Gordon Brown gave them a great business idea. Paul Tustain, the founder of BullionVault.com, the internet-based gold trading firm, can. When the current prime minister, then chancellor of the exchequer, sold off the nation’s gold supply in the late 90s, Tustain decided that was a good signal to buy. But [...]
We must learn from financial history January 24, 2010 SPEAKING to this newspaper last night, Lord Myners, the City minister, points out that banks’ proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds and private equity were “in no way central” to the problems which led to the global financial crisis. I agree: Barack Obama’s plan to ban banks with retail arms from those activities – [...]