Q&A: AUTO ENROLMENT June 24, 2010 Q.WHAT IS THE EXISTING ARRANGEMENT FOR AUT0 ENROLMENT? A.Currently, all employees will be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme from 2012. Those employees working for a firm that doesn’t provide a pension will be enrolled into the National Employee Savings Trust or Nest. Q.WHY DO EMPLOYERS WANT NESTS RE-EXAMINED? A.They are worried that the one-size-fits-all scheme could hurt some firms, especially smaller ones. Currently [...]
Cameron asks public workers how he should cut spending June 24, 2010 PRIME Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg wrote to six million public sector workers yesterday asking for ideas on how to save money and tackle a record peacetime deficit. Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget suggests 25 per cent spending cuts in all government departments except health and international development to balance a deficit of [...]
Cable to refresh Royal Mail privatisation plans June 24, 2010 VINCE Cable has asked the man behind plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail to see whether a full stock market flotation or sale to a trade buyer could unlock more value in current market conditions. In his first report, former deputy chairman of Ofcom Richard Hooper recommended a strategic partnership with a private player, essentially a part-privatisation. [...]
Bank debt could hurt UK June 24, 2010 THE largest UK banks will need to refinance or replace around £750bn worth of term loans and liquid assets by the end of 2012, warned the Bank of England yesterday. The scale of the required refinancing is greater than that of banks based in the US, Germany, France or Italy and could hurt the UK’s [...]
FSA oversight set to persist June 24, 2010 ALL major FSA policy initiatives and its intensive supervisory approach will be adopted within the new regulatory structure, FSA chief executive Hector Sants confirmed yesterday. Speaking at the watchdog’s annual public meeting, Sants said the FSA would take forward all its major policy initiatives within the new structure, including plans to eliminate commission for most [...]
Morgan Stanley pays $102m to end subprime lending case June 24, 2010 MORGAN Stanley agreed yesterday to pay $102m (£68m) to end an investigation in Massachusetts into unfair lending practices. Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, said Morgan Stanley, which funded subprime loans throughout the country, improperly loaned billions of dollars to New Century which then sold loans to unqualified borrowers in the state. Morgan Stanley also [...]
Five-year prison term demanded for trader Kerviel June 24, 2010 CALLING Jerome Kerviel a liar and a cheat, the Paris prosecutor yesterdfay demanded a five-year prison sentence for the rogue trader whose high-profile trial is nearing its end. Prosecutor Jean-Michel Aldebert termed Kerviel a “manipulator” and a “cheater” for having built up unauthorised bets worth €50bn (£41.3bn) that nearly brought French bank Societe Generale to [...]
Oracle revenues jump as Sun unit boosts profits June 24, 2010 ORACLE posted quarterly profit that exceeded Wall Street projections yesterday, as its recently acquired Sun Microsystems hardware division added to earnings. The company said Sun added more than $400m (£268m) to Oracle’s operating profit, excluding items. Oracle posted profit, excluding items, of 60 cents per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 May, handily [...]
Congo strips Tullow of two oil block deals June 24, 2010 Democratic Republic of Congo has stripped British energy firm Tullow of its rights to two oil blocks on Lake Albert, thought to hold vast crude deposits, according to leaked documents yesterday. Presidential decrees awarded little-known energy firms Caprikat and Foxwhelp, both registered in the British Virgin Islands, development rights to Block 1 and Block 2 [...]
Network Rail’s £2.2m bonuses for executives sparks outrage June 24, 2010 government and trade unions condemned Network Rail yesterday for awarding its top managers bonuses and incentive payments totalling more than £2.2m. Transport secretary Philip Hammond said: “In the week when everyone has been asked to share the burden of reducing Britain’s deficit, people will rightly be asking how Network Rail’s top executives feel this is [...]