UK bankers could face US prison for sanctions busting August 7, 2012 IT IS American regulators that British multinationals must really fear. By alleging that Standard Chartered Bank is a “rogue institution”, the New York State Department of Financial Services has dunked the bank’s share price and caused it untold reputational damage. The investigation into breaches of the Iranian sanctions regime may be almost complete. But Standard [...]
After Lib Dem-Tory splits on constitutional reform, will this coalition last until 2015? August 7, 2012 YES Mark Field In spite of deep-seated disputes over constitutional reform, the coalition will hold steady. The deepening threat to our economy from the Eurozone makes it ever more important that the coalition stays united around its central economic purpose. Public borrowing remains stubbornly high, but deficit reduction is a mantra that unites all coalition [...]
RAPID RESPONSES August 7, 2012 Regulatory favours [Re: Another banking scandal was the last thing the City needed, yesterday] I’m glad Allister Heath has addressed this issue: all regulators, American or otherwise, are not necessarily acting with justice and fairness. We need to question their motives. I don’t know the specifics behind the allegations made against Standard Chartered Bank. But [...]
You can bank on Tesco to become competitive in financial services August 6, 2012 TESCO has had a challenging 2012 to date. We saw the rebasing of group earnings in January; an unwelcome slowdown in trading at loss-making Fresh & Easy in the US; decelerating trading conditions in Central Europe; and impacts from restrictions on large store opening hours in South Korea – its most significant market outside the [...]
Seven minutes of terror: Why Mars is the next frontier in the search for life August 6, 2012 NASA’S latest Mars explorer has landed on the Red Planet – and so have I (or at least my name has). The Mars Science Laboratory, known as Curiosity, carried a microchip with the names of its mission supporters, of which I am one. This was my fourth landing on Mars, as I also landed with [...]
Our gold medals herald a golden age for UK sport August 6, 2012 WITH London 2012 in full swing, British sport is entering a golden age. Hosting an Olympic Games offers huge possibilities – increasing the profile of athletics in this country and building a gateway for all the aspiring young athletes coming through the system. Many young people watching these extraordinary athletes will be thinking “next time [...]
As Louise Mensch steps down from politics, should we regret the loss of maverick MPs? August 6, 2012 YES Dylan Sharpe In a recent poll of the least trusted professions, politicians pipped bankers and journalists to an unwelcome top spot. It reflected the sad truth that many constituents have stopped listening to their MPs, expecting to hear platitudes and meaningless promises. That accusation is often unfair, but when few politicians are willing to [...]
RAPID RESPONSES August 6, 2012 Time-saving tech [Re: The technology paradox: It will kill jobs but rescue Britain’s economy, yesterday] I was rather suprised by Matthew Rock’s assertion that new technology kills jobs. If that were the case, the invention of the shovel would have led to economic decline, by allowing one digger to get more work done than many [...]
The technology paradox: It will kill jobs but rescue Britain’s economy August 5, 2012 THE LATEST GDP numbers were awful. The UK economy shrank by 0.7 per cent. But rather than embarking on political blame-games, we must face a stark fact: the economy needs a clean-out. All the fiscal and monetary levers have been pulled, and they haven’t worked. A much bigger story is at play – digital technology [...]
The Olympics is about more than economic growth August 5, 2012 I DON’T know about you, but I haven’t done much work in the past week. Although we could do with a boost to the economy after three straight quarters of contracting on GDP, there’s no time for shopping when you have double trap shooting qualifiers on the agenda. I did sink a hundred quid in [...]