Tobacco ‘price fixers’ hit with £225m fine April 16, 2010 BRITAIN’S largest two tobacco manufacturers and ten retail groups have been fined a total of £225m by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher as well as the stores – including Asda and the Co-op – were hit with fines after a seven-year investigation into price fixing. The tobacco companies agreed to [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown reports record quarter April 16, 2010 FUND manager Hargreaves Lansdown said it has had its best quarter ever with a flood of new clients. Total assets under administration surged by 12.8 per cent to £17.6bn in the third quarter. The group said it has maintained a strong cash and balance sheet position, free from debt and with a high level of [...]
Clegg wins debate April 15, 2010 NICK Clegg was last night crowned as winner of the first televised leaders’ debate in British history. According to instant national opinion polls, the Liberal Democrat leader won the public round with an impassioned appeal for a new kind of politics in the wake of the expenses crisis. Gordon Brown, who adopted a more combative [...]
Greece asks for IMF talks April 15, 2010 GREECE has asked that discussions between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and eurozone countries begin as the debt-ridden southern European island moves a step closer to seeking financial aid. The IMF said yesterday it has agreed to send a team to Athens to meet with Greek authorities next week to review policies that will provide [...]
The political bubble has yet to burst April 15, 2010 BRITISH politics is in a sorry state – that, I’m afraid, is the only conclusion that can be drawn from last night’s leaders’ debate. All three wannabe PMs played it safe; there was barely any acknowledgement of how the recession and crisis at the heart of the public finances has changed everything and how we [...]
Lehman sets claims plan April 15, 2010 LEHMAN Brothers plans to hand creditors between 15 and 27 per cent of their £1 trillion claims as part of the stricken bank’s proposal to exit bankruptcy. The plan is part of a US court disclosure statement filed earlier this week and gave insight into how the bank would attempt to end its bankruptcy. The [...]
SEC joins Hewlett-Packard probe April 15, 2010 Democrats pressed ahead with financial regulation reform in the US Congress yesterday, rejecting Republican complaints and preparing the way for a final vote on legislation in the Senate. The last unfinished piece of a massive Democratic bill – new rules for the $450 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market – was expected to take clearer shape today [...]
Former Matalan boss joins Hut April 15, 2010 Angus Monro, the former Matalan chief executive is to join the board of online retailer The Hut Group. Monro is already among a list who have invested in the company, including fund managers Artemis and William Currie, and technology venture capital group Balderton Capital. Hut Group has been earmarked as the UK’s fastest growing online [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTORS RAISE FEARS ON “STEWARDSHIP CODE” As the Financial Reporting Council prepares to issue a shareholders’ best practice code, industry groups and institutional investors say they are worried it will become another list of boxes to tick. The FRC’s consultation on the world’s first official “stewardship code” closes on Friday and it expects [...]
Cameron was winner, say our panellists April 15, 2010 DAVID CAMERON scraped past Nick Clegg to win last night’s leaders’ debate, according to a rapid response panel of City A.M. readers – but only just. We asked a rapid response group from our panel of London’s financiers and business professionals to score each of the leaders out of 10 for performance and content. The [...]