WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 27, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES GORDON GEKKO TELLS WALL ST GREED IS NOT GOOD Michael Douglas is playing a new and unlikely role as spokesman for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in its war against corruption on Wall Street. The Hollywood actor – famous for his line “greed is good” in the 1987 film Wall Street – [...]
Government announces an end to stamp duty holiday November 29, 2011 THE CHANCELLOR was accused of dealing a blow to first-time buyers yesterday after announcing that the government would not be extending the stamp duty holiday beyond next March. In his Autumn Statement yesterday, George Osborne said that duty land tax relief “has been ineffective” in increasing the number of first time buyers entering the market. [...]
House prices drop for eighth month running January 17, 2012 HOUSE prices in the UK declined again in November, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) revealed yesterday. The index fell 0.3 per cent on an annual basis in November, slower than the 0.4 per cent decrease seen in October and representing the eighth consecutive monthly fall. Meanwhile the typical sum paid for homes [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES M&S to charge for current accounts Marks and Spencer is set to become the first UK bank to shun free current accounts as it plans to charge all customers a monthly fee for banking services when it launches later this year. The retailer said it would offer two accounts, priced at £15 and [...]
Taylor Wimpey predicts stable outlook for UK house market July 4, 2012 TAYLOR WIMPEY said yesterday the UK housing market remained “stable” despite wider uncertainty in the Eurozone and the global economy, as it continued to grow sales. In a first-half trading update, Britain’s second largest housebuilder said it sold 5,083 homes in the six months to 1 July, up from 4,707 the same time last year, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RUSSIAN LINK IN FRAUD CLAIM A $150m fraud allegedly attempted by a former fund manager at Threadneedle Asset Management is linked to a trade in more than a billion Argentinian warrants by former staff at Otkritie, the Russian financial services group. Threadneedle confirmed on Tuesday that a former trader had been dismissed in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 11, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CBI chief attacks lack of growth The head of Britain’s biggest employers’ group has strongly criticised the government for the “really disappointing” implementation of its growth plan, asking: “Where are the diggers on the ground?” John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, said members of the government appeared to be “dazzled in the headlights”, [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE STATE BE SUPPORTING HOUSE-BUYERS? November 21, 2011 DAVID CALVERT | MIZUHO “I think that the government should be more involved with planning and making land available, so that these people can build their own homes rather than going back to sub-prime loans.” LIAM DUNFORD | SAVILLS “There are too many international problems relating to bank lending. I think that the UK economy [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Co-op nears cut-price Lloyds deal The Co-operative Group is close to agreeing final terms with Lloyds Banking Group to buy 630 of its branches in a deal expected to be struck at a steep discount to the previously mooted £1.5bn price tag. But Lloyds, 40 per cent owned by the government, would be [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Electricity market reforms unworkable The Treasury’s refusal to back the energy department’s low-carbon agenda has made flagship electricity market reforms “unworkable”, “vacuous” and counterproductive, the government has been told. A draft bill designed to spur billions of pounds of spending on power sources such as wind farms and nuclear plants is so flawed [...]