UBS tax deal with Swiss in doubt January 26, 2010 Switzerland’s cabinet will meet today to discuss a court decision which may undermine a key tax deal involving leading bank UBS and US authorities. A UBS client earlier this week won an appeal to prevent her account data from being given to US tax collectors as part of a US probe into possible tax evasion. [...]
A LESSON IN THE PERILS OF PAYING BY PLASTIC January 26, 2010 LET this be a lesson to all those out there who imagine that the good old days of decadence are gone for good. I hear a bit of a surprise was in store on a recent holiday to Miami for Michael Parnes – the founder of Old Park Lane Capital, the Mayfair-based ultra high net [...]
SIGNS OF LIFE January 26, 2010 BRITAIN has emerged blinking from its deepest post-War recession but there seemed little reason to be cheerful yesterday as paltry growth of just 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2009 hammered home the fragility of the recovery and the very real risk of a relapse in 2010. Policymakers had optimistically forecast a V-shaped [...]
UK economy limps out of recession January 26, 2010 THE UK has officially come out of recession – but only just. Data released by the Official of National Statistics showed the economy grew just 0.1 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2009. Although the figure compares with a decrease of 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 it still comes way [...]
Consumer confidence up in US but housing market shaky January 25, 2010 CONSUMER confidence in January hit its highest level since September 2008 in the US, according to new data. A decline in job losses in recent months and a resurgent stock market have helped improve consumers’ mood after the US recession that ended last year. Yet concerns remain about the sustainability of the recovery after the [...]
HSBC chief attacks bankers’ bonuses January 25, 2010 HSBC chairman Stephen Green has launched an attack on bankers’ bonuses branding the sums they have been receiving “inflated”. He said bankers would have to accept lower payouts in the future following the furore surrounding their remuneration packages. Green, who is also chairman of the British Bankers’ Association, said: “You’ve had bonuses paid off gross [...]
Siemens sees profits leap after cost cutting January 25, 2010 GERMAN engineering group Siemens has reported a big jump in pre-tax profit despite a sales slump. Siemens has cut its workforce by 22,000 in the past year as well as slashing its administration costs by €2bn (£1.7bn). Its profit rose 23 per cent in the first quarter to €1.48bn from €1.2bn in the same period [...]
Tony Blair takes job at Lansdowne January 25, 2010 TONY Blair is to become a speaker for hedge fund Lansdowne Partners in a deal that is likely to earn the former Prime Minister hundreds of thousands of pounds. The role requires Blair to give a small number of geopolitical talks to the firm’s executives. The former Labour leader’s appointment is surprising, given that Lansdowne [...]
Hedge funds sue Porsche January 25, 2010 FOUR US hedge funds have sued luxury carmaker Porsche and two of its former executives, accusing them of a $1bn (£615m) fraud during the luxury carmaker’s failed takeover bid for Volkswagen in 2008. The lawsuit – filed by Elliott Associates, Glenhill Capital Management, Glenview Capital Management and Perry Capital – was lodged in a Manhattan [...]
All can fail: my new manifesto for the banks January 25, 2010 REGULAR readers of this column will know that I am no fan of many of the proposals being cooked up to reform the banks. I have opposed Barack Obama’s plan to ban retail banks from engaging in proprietary trading; George Osborne’s support of Glass-Steagall, which would break up commercial and investment banks; and Alistair Darling’s [...]