Clegg: we’ll hike capital gains tax April 14, 2010 NICK Clegg yesterday said a Liberal Democrat government would introduce a new 50p top rate of capital gains tax, as he unveiled a manifesto that promised to clobber the City. The Lib Dem leader said capital gains tax would be brought in line with income tax, with two rates: 20 per cent and 50 per [...]
Obama pushes Wall St reform April 14, 2010 PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday continued his push to drastically curb derivatives trading by Wall Street banks, at the same time as the European Commission indicated it would exempt non-financial firms from the new rules. Republicans ripped into Obama’s Democratic reform bill, saying it would protect big banks, hurt small banks and guarantee “endless taxpayer bailouts [...]
Labour and Liberals move to the left April 14, 2010 NEW Labour isn’t dead: about that Alistair Darling could not have been any more emphatic in his interview with City A.M. today. We asked him whether Labour’s manifesto – with its 50p tax, restrictions on hostile takeover bids, increases in regulation and no clear plan to reduce the size of the state – should be [...]
Bernanke bullish on upturn April 14, 2010 THE US economy will continue to recover at a moderate pace in coming quarters, bolstered by a return of business and consumer spending, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. According to the Fed’s beige book, the majority of US districts saw a rise in retail, mining and energy, and manufacturing activity levels. The housing [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 14, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BP TO PRESS ON WITH CANADA OIL SANDS PLAN BP will press ahead with its plan to invest in Canada’s controversial oil sands, the company will signal at Thursday’s annual general meeting, in spite of protests from environmentalists and concerns among some shareholders. More than 140 investors have backed a resolution calling for [...]
Accounting rules target missed April 14, 2010 A deadline to create a single global set of accounting rules could be missed by accounting standard setters after they were unable to agree on a set of terms, including how to value financial instruments. Last September, the Group of 20 leading and industrialised nations pledged to lend support for a globally unified set of [...]
HSBC trains bids to come today April 14, 2010 HSBC is preparing for a flood of bids today as it looks to shed its train leasing business, which owns roughly one-third of the UK’s rail rolling stock and is expected to be valued at £2bn. One of the bidders is a consortium of 3i Infrastructure, Star Capital and Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure fund. Others include [...]
Fed vindicates Goldman over Greek trades April 14, 2010 A FEDERAL Reserve investigation into contracts between Goldman Sachs and the Greek government ended yesterday without any action being taken. The probe, launched by the Fed, alleged that the contracts distorted the country’s debt levels. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress yesterday the investment banking giant did sell Greece products that lowered its debt-to-GDP ratio [...]
Prudential causes a stir with surprise AIA appointment April 14, 2010 PRUDENTIAL surprised analysts by appointing its UK chief executive to lead the integration of AIA in Asia yesterday, raising questions over the future of its UK operations. Rob Devey, who joined Pru last year, will oversee the assimilation of AIG’s Far Eastern unit after the British insurer’s $35.5bn (£23bn) takeover goes through in the autumn. [...]
AIG aircraft unit to shed planes April 14, 2010 The aircraft leasing unit of bailed-out insurer American International Group (AIG) has agreed to sell 53 passenger jets to Australia’s Macquarie Group to raise a much-needed $2bn (£1.29bn) in cash. International Lease Finance (ILFC), a top customer of Boeing and Airbus, said yesterday it was selling the aircraft, mostly 737s and A320s, for below their [...]