WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF ALISTAIR DARLING’S WHITE PAPER? July 8, 2009 RICHARD LAMBERT DIRECTOR-GENERAL, CBI“We recognise the case for new regulations to ensure that financial crises of the kind we have experienced are not repeated. We do not see the advantage of pre-funding the already successful Financial Services Compensation Scheme. There is also a risk of over-regulating financial product design.” ANGELA KNIGHT CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BBA“Much of [...]
China holds Rio Tinto man on spying charges July 8, 2009 CHINESE authorities have detained Rio Tinto’s top iron ore negotiator on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets, the miner which is listed in London and Australia said yesterday. The news comes as China and iron ore producers, including Rio Tinto, are locked in talks regarding annual contract prices, and less than a month after [...]
SHAREHOLDER VIEWS: DO YOU BELIEVE ROSE SHOULD RELINQUISH THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN ROLE? July 8, 2009 JEANETTE CAWLEY“Sir Stuart Rose does a fantastic job. I just don’t think that having two separate people for chairman and chief executive would bring anything extra to the company, because he knows the business really well from top to bottom.”HAZEL HOARE“As far as I’m concerned they should get rid of him. I think the board [...]
Luxembourg off tax haven list July 8, 2009 Luxembourg has been removed from a “grey list” of countries seen by the OECD as lacking financial transparency, budget minister Luc Frieden said yesterday. “As of this afternoon Luxembourg will be on the OECD tax haven white list,” he said. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development had placed Luxembourg on the so-called grey [...]
TalkTalk delivers a blow to Phorm July 8, 2009 Shares in Phorm suffered another blow yesterday after the online behavioural monitoring company confirmed that telecoms retailer Talk Talk had ended their commercial agreement. The news came two days after BT said it had no plans to use Phorm’s service, sending the shares 42 per cent lower. Phorm said Carphone Warehouse subsidiary TalkTalk had not [...]
JPMCaz unveils scathing Pru note July 8, 2009 JP Morgan Cazenove (JPM Caz) has published a controversial research note suggesting insurance heavyweight Prudential has “made full use of the vagaries of insurance accounting to present its results in a good light”. The note, a draft of which was shown to the firm last week, sparked concern when Pru proposed a number of changes [...]
Manufacturing output slump July 7, 2009 MANUFACTURING output fell by 0.5 per cent in May, according to official data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, reducing the likelihood that the UK economy returned to growth in the second quarter. The surprise fall – analysts had expected a rise of 0.2 per cent – meant that manufacturing is now 13.1 [...]
Shop prices inched higher in June, food prices to fall July 7, 2009 INFLATION in shop prices rose only modestly in June and at a slower rate than in May, according to the British Retail Consortium-Nielsen’s shop price inflation index released today. Prices rose by 0.7 per cent in June compared with the same period last year and was held up by food inflation of 5.6 per cent [...]
UK consumer upbeat about rest of year July 7, 2009 BRITISH consumers are feeling increasingly positive and confidence levels are now close to those recorded last year, according the Nationwide consumer confidence index published today. The index rose to 58 from 54 in May, compared to a reading of 59 in June last year. Consumer expectations for the economic situation in six months time were [...]
EU finance chiefs agree capital plan July 7, 2009 EUROPEAN Union finance ministers have agreed to make changes to capital requirements on financial institutions, to ensure that they build up greater cash cushions during good times. The plans, which will form the basis of legislation to be drafted in October, is intended to prevent banks lending recklessly when growth is strong and allow them [...]