Denton Wilde Sapte joins the rush for transatlantic law firm mergers June 6, 2010 MERGERS and acquisitions are rattling along at quite a pace among transatlantic law firms – unlike at the corporate clients they service, many of which are still finding the M&A game a little hard going at the moment, not least of course Prudential. The latest legal mega-deal repays a closer look. The City’s Denton Wilde [...]
HMRC’s tax assault to hit honest firms June 6, 2010 A TOP City accountancy firm has claimed that a tax crackdown by HMRC will mean innocent firms being investigated at the taxpayers’ expense. UHY Hacker said that plans to seize an additional £4bn in revenue in 2010/11 through a more aggressive strategy would leave blameless businesses facing unnecessary probes into their dealings. The total figure [...]
Bars and clubs fail to shake off recession June 6, 2010 THE number of bar and pub companies going bust has continued to soar in the last year, a new survey has shown. While corporate insolvencies have been falling in other sectors, the picture for bars and clubs is still bleak. A total of 23 pub, bar and nightclub companies have become insolvent in the first [...]
FSA approvals taking longer June 6, 2010 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been criticised for the long delays in its corporate approval process, in a fresh blow to the City regulator. Companies now wait 19.5 weeks on average for an FSA decision on whether to authorise financial services work, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by City [...]
Greek economy kept afloat by shipping trade June 6, 2010 MANY of the headlines about the UK and Greek economies have, perhaps understandably, painted a bleak picture of harsh financial realities in both countries. Clearly the UK Government and the Greek administration face a period of painful fiscal tightening as they balance the books and reassure international investors. Therefore, in this challenging period, the top [...]
Dispute numbers up in recession fallout June 6, 2010 THE NUMBER of commercial disputes held before international arbitral institutions were up by 16 per cent last year, according to new research, suggesting the recession was one of the main contributors to the rise. Figures from law firm Hogan Lovells’ arbitration practice showed that arbitration bodies across the globe saw a flurry of commercial disputes [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 6, 2010 TATE & LYLE Evolution Securities maintains a “buy” recommendation for Tate & Lyle and has upped its target price to 560p. Evo said Tate is a compelling long term turnaround story and that new boss Javed Ahmed appears to have all the credentials to tackle Tate’s issues. Evo said the added spice is that Tate [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 6, 2010 London Stock Exchange The exchange has hired Gay Huey Evans and Paul Heiden as non-executive directors and made Raffaele Jerusalmi an executive director. Huey Evans, pictured, is vice chair of investment banking and investment management at Barclays. Heiden is executive chairman of Talaris Topco and a non-executive at United Utilities, while Jerusalmi is director of capital [...]
Applications to build sink in downturn June 6, 2010 APPLICATIONS for permission to build new commercial property developments plunged sharply over the past year, as a number of high-profile developers succumbed to the downturn and demand for office and retail space faltered. In the past year, 21,729 commercial property planning applications were lodged in England, down 15 per cent from 25,600 the previous year, [...]
KPMG wins award for values June 6, 2010 BUSINESS in the Community’s (BITC) annual corporate responsibility index is announced today, with professional services firm KPMG leading the pack with the highest possible overall rating and four Big Tick awards. The company has been awarded a platinum plus rating for its environmentally friendly offices and ban on short haul flights. It is one of [...]