How a worldwide sponsor captures every dimension of the 2012 Games March 20, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 128 DAYS TO GO Q.WHAT WAS YOUR BRAND’S PRIMARY REASON FOR BEING INVOLVED WITH THE GAMES? A.We’ve been involved with the Games since 1984. When the top sponsor programme started in 1988, we were one of the first to join at that level, but our earliest involvement was [...]
What George Osborne’s Budget could mean for individuals and businesses March 20, 2012 Later today, George Osborne will take to his feet for his third Budget since the coalition took office in 2010. The economy is still shaky and coalition disagreements have had a very public airing. Ahead of the Budget, the papers, blogs and airwaves have played host to suggestions of mansion taxes, tycoon taxes, and plans [...]
Changes to the tax code should be driven by the broader theme of simplification March 20, 2012 HEAD OF TAX, ACCA THE loudest pre-Budget negotiations this year have been over changes to the tax system. Broadly, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have been having public disagreements over which taxes to cut – removing the temporary 50p rate for high earners and/or raising the personal allowance threshold to £10,000 – and how to [...]
It is imperative that the chancellor delivers a budget today for the long term March 20, 2012 SENIOR SME POLICY ADVISER, ACCA ANOTHER year, another Budget, another gloomy picture for British enterprise. If the chancellor was hoping for the private sector to pick up the slack left in the economy by spending cuts then he must be disappointed. Among small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), it’s a story of low demand and flagging [...]
Attempts to boost Britain’s small businesses will fail or succeed on the devilish details March 20, 2012 HEAD OF ACCA UK LOOKING to turn the tide of not-entirely-successful business support schemes, in the run-up to this Budget, the Treasury and the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills unveiled two new projects aimed at boosting Britain’s small businesses. The first, the National Loan Guarantee Scheme, reduces the interest rates of bank loans taken [...]
Dim view of banks puts the brakes on FTSE 100’s rally March 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares eased back from last week’s 2012 highs yesterday, as weakness in banks after recent strong gains overshadowed a late-session recovery from miners, with investors awaiting the next catalyst to drive the market. The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 4.47 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,961.11. Banks, which spearheaded the FTSE [...]
Wall St buoyed by Apple divi scheme March 19, 2012 THE S&P 500 extended its rally yesterday to climb within 10 per cent of its historic closing high, after Apple said it would pay a $10bn annual dividend and buy back stock. The benchmark index is now at its highest level since May 2008 and 10 per cent below the record close of 1,565.15 set [...]
Spread betting on a basket of stocks March 19, 2012 EXCHANGE-traded funds (ETF) have been seen by many as being one of the greatest financial innovations in recent decades. Offering retail clients cheap and highly liquid exposure to a huge range of markets, despite an initially slow uptake, there are now almost 1,000 ETFs on US exchanges alone. If there’s a sector, there’s probably an [...]
FX MARKETS FOLLOWING THE BOND MARKETS RATHER THAN EQUITIES March 19, 2012 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT OVER the past several weeks, the FX market has undergone a monumental change. Bonds not stocks have become the primary driver of trade for currencies and that one dynamic has been able to explain most of the movement in the dollar both up and down. Instead of the old mantra [...]
THE TIPSTER March 19, 2012 THE management statement from Punch Taverns later today should allow investors to decide whether the glass is really half full or half empty for the pub chain. Last year saw a de-merger and a run of poor results, and the share price in the first quarter of 2012 hasn’t seen much movement at all – [...]