Former Co-op Bank boss says his warnings over Verde branch deal were ignored September 4, 2013 Former Co-op Bank chief executive Neville Richardson has said that the failed Verde branches deal "was the right deal at the wrong times" and that "the board and CEO of Co-op Group at that time did not accept my warnings and were determined to press ahead. That is why I stepped down." Richardson said that [...]
Obama says he didn’t set a red line, the world set a red line September 4, 2013 US President Barack Obama has said that he "didn't set a red line" over Syrian intervention, but that "the world set a red line". The President said that his "credibility is not on the line" on Syria, having offered Congress a vote on further action, scheduled for 9 September. Obama believes that Congress will approve [...]
Cowgate: “Bullish” announcement from Barclays September 4, 2013 The Barclays rights issue announcement is turning some heads (release). Rather than linking to the Barclays website, all links to Barclays actually direct to Hereford, a site that sells bull semen. A Barclays spinner told City A.M. "I'm absolutely not saying anything more on Cowgate". An updated release has now been issued, but the old [...]
As Microsoft buys Nokia’s mobile business, is patent law a threat to business competition? September 4, 2013 YESThere are many reasons why Microsoft decided to buy part of Nokia, but it is clear that one of them was for patents. In the US, the patent system is – in some cases – highly anti-competitive and allows for-profit firms like MPEG-LA to abuse their market power by charging excessive license fees. As the [...]
Trouble at Olympus: SFO brings criminal charges against tech company September 4, 2013 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged camera and medical equipment company Olympus with offences of "making a statement to an auditor which was misleading, false or deceptive". The alleged offences are said to have taken place between April 2010 and March 2011 and arose from a global fraud case for which Olympus Corporation was [...]
Economists say Eurozone recovery isn’t a one-off expanding as area emerges from recession September 4, 2013 With confirmation that the Eurozone has finally emerged from its six quarter recession, posting 0.3 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter, economists now expect the area to move back towards more impressive growth figures. Capital Economics stress the new purchasing managers' index data as a sign that signs of recovery are not anomalous: [...]
Loads of Twitter’s functions just disappeared September 4, 2013 Update: All of these functions are now back. Looks like Twitter was having some technical trouble. A load of Twitter's functions just disappeared overnight. So far, we can't find any update from Twitter about why this has happened. What we've found so far: No more auto-complete suggestions in the search bar. You used to get [...]
UK sees strongest new business growth in service sector for 16 years September 4, 2013 Great news for the UK service sector this August, as the latest data from Markit shows that activity in the sector is growing at its fastest pace since December 2006. The purchasing managers' index rose from 60.2 to 60.5, despite an expected slowing in expansion to 59.0. New business growth also grew at the fastest [...]
Emerging countries could suffer if the US tightens policy, IMF warns September 4, 2013 Emerging countries could suffer if the US turns off the monetary easing taps, the IMF fears. According to Reuters, a note prepared for the G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg warns that tightening policy is likely to put emerging economies at risk. In its surveillance note, obtained by Reuters, the IMF urged strengthened global action to [...]
Eurozone sees order books expanding at fastest rate in two years September 4, 2013 The Eurozone recovery may finally be materialising, albeit at a lacklustre pace. Data from Markit has shown the currency bloc's purchasing managers' index has risen from 50.5 to 51.5. That's below expectations of a rise to 51.7, but it's still pretty good news. Christian Schulz, senior economist, Berenberg: The overall data conceal two different recoveries [...]