Volkswagen has fixed 470,000 of the UK cars hit by the emissions scandal February 20, 2017 German carmaker Volkswagen has fixed 470,000 cars out of 1.2m affected by the diesel emissions scandal in Britain, the firm’s UK managing director told MPs yesterday. Giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee, Paul Willis was grilled by MPs, with some angry that the firm has not been fined in Britain and that motorists have not [...]
Anglo American bosses to lose out on bumper share awards following remuneration reforms February 20, 2017 Anglo American bosses will reportedly lose out on millions in share awards as they plan to redraft remuneration rules following a shareholder revolt last year. According to Sky News, the FTSE 100 mining group will cap the amount bosses can earn from long-term incentive plans agreed when its shares were suffering in the face of [...]
Donald Trump’s state visit is “entirely appropriate” says foreign office minister February 20, 2017 Foreign office minister Sir Alan Duncan has shot down demands to scrap the state visit of US President Donald Trump, telling MPs the honour is “entirely appropriate”. MPs today debated Trump's trip after 1.8m people signed a petition calling for the state visit to be scrapped, with questions raised about the timing of the invitation from [...]
UK politicians to have their say on London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse deal February 20, 2017 British MPs are set to crank up the pressure on the London Stock Exchange over its merger with Deutsche Boerse tomorrow. Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash has secured a parliamentary debate for tomorrow discussing the future of the London Stock Exchange and exploring whether the deal could be blocked. Read more: Deutsche Boerse boss attempts [...]
MPs set to vote on Magnitsky legislation which would see assets of human rights’ abusers frozen February 20, 2017 The House of Commons will vote tomorrow on the Magnitsky legislative initiative which seeks to freeze the UK assets of alleged human rights violators from anywhere in the world. The initiative is presented as an amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill which was introduced to the parliament last October to strengthen and improve the enforcement of [...]
Trade secretary Liam Fox visits Southeast Asia to promote British links with the region February 20, 2017 Trade secretary Liam Fox is to visit Singapore and Vietnam this week in his first trip to Southeast Asia since coming to office as he seeks to bolster Britain's overseas links With Brexit secretary David Davis also visiting central Europe this week, Fox will be the second senior member of the cabinet overseas promoting the [...]
Business rates fight intensifies as government accused of misleading MPs February 20, 2017 The row over business rates is heating up with businesses hitting back at the government's claim that they will receive a tax cut. The government has retaliated at the business groups that are demanding reform to business rates, saying that three in four businesses will receive a rates cut, or won't be affected. Read more: The business rates backlash [...]
West End property hit despite surge in interest from Chinese buyers February 20, 2017 The value of commercial property transactions fell in January despite a surge in interest from Chinese buyers. According to numbers from real estate agents Savills, £841m worth of commercial properties were transacted in January this year, down from £895m in the same month last year, representing a fall of around six per cent. However, Chinese buyers are [...]
Kraft Heinz’s withdrawn Unilever bid ranks as the world’s third largest collapsed M&A deal February 20, 2017 Kraft Heinz’s scrapped $140bn (£113bn) bid for Unilever marks the third biggest M&A collapse in history, according to Thomson Reuters figures. US food giant Kraft shocked the financial world on Sunday night, withdrawing the bid just two days after details of the deal leaked. Read more: Unilever share price plunges after deal talks with Kraft [...]
Astrazeneca to sell commercial rights of cancer drug in $320m deal February 20, 2017 AstraZeneca has struck a $320m (£256m) deal with TerSera Therapeutics to sell the commercial rights of its Zoladex cancer treatment in the US and Canada. Zoladex is an injectable drug used to treat malignant prostate and breast cancer. As part of the deal, AstraZeneca will receive sales-related income through milestones totalling up to $70m. In 2016, product sales for Zoladex were $69m in the [...]