…and FTSE chiefs agree March 31, 2010 THE top dogs of Britain’s business community have backed Conservative plans to reverse National Insurance rises for those earning less than £45,000. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, they said Labour’s 1p in the pound rise in April had come at the wrong time and could result in heavy job losses. The 23 signatories [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 31, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BARRISTER’S EX-WIFE WINS PAYOUT AFTER 25 YEARS A leading barrister has been ordered to pay his former wife a lump sum of £215,000 – 25 years after they divorced. David Vaughan QC, an expert in European law, had been been paying his former wife Philippa an annual sum of £27,175. But in November [...]
Tories are six points ahead March 31, 2010 Last night’s YouGov poll for the Sun saw the Conservative lead unchanged at 38 per cent, with Labour gaining one point to 32 per cent and the Liberal Democrats unchanged at 19 per cent. Since last week’s Budget, the Conservatives have remained consistently six or seven points ahead of Labour.
Credit Suisse bumper bonus plan March 31, 2010 Credit Suisse Group AG stoked debate on executive pay in Switzerland yesterday by awarding chiefeExecutive Brady Dougan shares worth around 71m Swiss francs under a five-year bonus plan. Almost 400 of its executives and other managers are now set toreceive shares worth a total of over 3bn francs under the incentive plan, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank [...]
Gartmore in bid to limit probe fall-out March 31, 2010 EMBATTLED fund manager Gartmore yesterday embarked on a charm offensive in a bid to calm investors worried about allegations levelled against its star trader. Gartmore is desperate to arrest the decline in its share price and ensure its clients do not switch their funds to another firm. It met with investors yesterday to try to [...]
FSA charges seven with insider trading March 31, 2010 SEVEN men have been charged by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 13 counts of conspiracy to deal on inside information, while the regulator has issued a warrant for the arrest of an eighth individual in connection with the case. Ali Mustafa, Pardip Saini, Paresh Shah, Neten Shah, Bijal Shah, Truptesh Patel and Mitesh Shah [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DOES RAMBOURG’S SUSPENSION MEAN FOR GARTMORE? March 31, 2010 JUSTIN URQUART STEWART | SEVEN “It all seems like a bit of a storm in a teacup but the brand damage could be vast. It’s exactly what Gartmore didn’t need at the moment. It’s obviously been reflected in its share price – I’m afraid it appears that the damage has been done.” KATRINA HART | [...]
Greece gears up for $10bn bond in May March 31, 2010 GREECE will try to diversify its investor base and get a better price for its debt by tapping international markets for a dollar bond of up to $10bn (€7.4bn, £6.6bn) in May. Finance minister George Papaconstantinou is expected to lead a roadshow in the US and Asia in late April to whip up interest in [...]
Paris and Berlin in push for bank levy March 31, 2010 GERMANY and France yesterday insisted that an international bank levy should be imposed in order to create a global safety blanket for future crises. French economy minister Christine Lagarde said: “We agree fundamentally on the international nature that this mechanism should have.” The build up of momentum means the G20 group could agree a bank [...]
Hedge funds assets up 5.5pc March 31, 2010 THE number of hedge funds has fallen but the ones in existence are holding more assets under management, according to a survey by PerTrac Financial Solutions. A study of ten of the world’s leading hedge find databases revealed assets rising by 5.5 per cent over the year, to $1.41 trillion. Meredith Jones, managing director of [...]