Budget 2015 vs Budget 2010: What are the vote-winners? March 17, 2015 It’s almost budget day in election year, the time for the Conservatives to dangle a few carrots and warn of a few essential sticks to come. But how different it this year’s budget to the Labour party’s swansong back in 2010? There are a few key differences and some glaring similarities. Tax evasion Osborne’s last [...]
Budget 2015 is all about that tax: Prepare for Osborne to say it every 31 seconds while wearing a blue tie, bookies predict March 17, 2015 It’s all about the tax in the upcoming budget. Chancellor George Osborne is expected to utter the word 108 times in his speech which is expected to last 56 minutes – or once every 31 seconds. That’s the predictions of spread betting firm Sporting Index when the chancellor takes the stage in the Commons for [...]
FCA takes first public action against Rabobank trader Paul Robson for manipulating Libor submissions March 17, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned ex-Rabobank trader Paul Robson from the financial services industry for "lacking honesty and integrity". Last year, Robson pleaded guilty to being involved in the conspiracy to manipulate his company's Yen Libor submissions. The ruling marks the first time the FCA has taken public action against a trader for [...]
Apprentices to get 20 per cent pay rise but George Osborne misses minimum wage goal March 16, 2015 Apprentices will get a 20 per cent pay rise this October, after business secretary Vince Cable won his battle to overrule the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendation of a 2.6 per cent rise in the minimum wage. By contrast, chancellor George Osborne has failed to meet his aspiration to hike the headline minimum wage to [...]
Dax hits record as it strides past 12,000 barrier March 16, 2015 German stock market benchmark – the Dax – hit a record high yesterday in a strong day for Eurozone markets. The index of 30 major German companies closed at 12,167.72 – a 2.24 per cent gain. The European Central Bank (ECB) had purchased €9.571bn (£6.841bn) of debt in the first three days of its public [...]
City skills shortage: Almost two vacancies for each jobseeker March 16, 2015 Finance firms’ growth is being held back by a lack of workers, recruiter Robert Walters warned today. It has 10,560 vacancies on its books, but just 6,090 jobseekers to fill it. The burgeoning economic recovery has encouraged workers to look at moving jobs – Robert Walters has seen a 48 per cent rise in potential movers [...]
Global house prices suffer first quarterly decline in two years March 16, 2015 Global house prices have suffered their first quarterly decline in more than two years, figures out yesterday show, as tensions between Greece and the Eurozone and weaker growth prospects in China weighed on consumer sentiment. Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index, which is weighted according to each country’s GDP, fell by 0.6 per cent in [...]
China is hot on the heels of US and Russia in arms export league March 16, 2015 China has become the world’s third largest exporter of arms after the US and Russia, according to a new report, accounting for five per cent of the overall total. China overtook Germany, France and the UK in exporting weapons between 2010 and 2014, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, [...]
Retailers call on rates review to save the high street March 16, 2015 Retailers today called for a radical shake-up of the UK’s 400 year-old business rates system and for greater support of the ailing high street as the government launches its biggest review into the controversial tax “in a generation”. Business rates, which are charged on commercial properties including shops and warehouses, deliver around £25bn to the [...]
Bankers to face new fitness test under FCA rules March 16, 2015 Financial services firms will be forced to vet thousands of staff each year and make sure they are “fit and proper” to perform their roles under a new framework being finalised by City regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will today publish the final proposals for a new regime [...]