London Assembly committee calls on Treasury to hand stamp duty over to Mayor December 10, 2015 The London Assembly's Regeneration Committee has a strong message for the next Mayor: lobby for stamp duty devolution to secure sustainable funding for the city's transportation. With London's population expected to grow to 10 million by 2030, the Committee says that increased transport is key to accommodate the growth. More funding would go toward developing [...]
Bubble fears as average London property hits £600,000 with outer boroughs seeing highest rises December 10, 2015 The average price of a London property is now just shy of £600,000, reigniting fears of a bubble and prompting talk of a market correction. The average London house price was £598,173 in October, 5.6 per cent higher than the same month last year, according to figures released today by estate agents Your Move and Reeds [...]
The EU wants customers to be able to access Sky, Netflix and other online subscriptions anywhere in Europe December 9, 2015 The EU wants to create a Digital Single Market. Wait! It's more interesting than it sounds: it means customers will be able to use their online subscriptions such as Netflix, Canal+ and Sky for free anywhere in Europe. The proposal was put forward by the EU's executive body the European Commission today. But, it is likely the scheme will face strong opposition from the media [...]
Former business secretary Vince Cable considering joining the board of Hampshire Community Bank after Alistair Darling goes to Morgan Stanley and Gordon Brown hired by Pimco December 9, 2015 Former business secretary Vince Cable could become the latest ex-minister to join the board of a lending institution. Cable, a Liberal Democrat who lost his Twickenham seat in the General Election earlier his year, told City A.M. he is considering becoming a director at Hampshire Community Bank, but has yet to join. However he also said [...]
News you can celebrate: Happy Birthday is now officially in the public domain and free for all to sing December 9, 2015 One of the most performed and well-known songs in the world is finally free as a two-year legal battle over who owns the copyright to Happy Birthday to You comes to an end. Music publisher Warner/Chappell, part of Warner Music Group, has settled a class-action lawsuit for an undisclosed sum, with multiple artists who wanted to have fees they [...]
Consumer group Which? attacks Transport for London’s proposals to clamp down on Uber December 9, 2015 Consumer group Which? has criticised Transport for London’s (TfL) plans for Uber as “stifling” and “dangerous.” TfL has proposed new regulations for Uber, including introducing a minimum wait time of five minutes, even if a car is immediately available. Sharing a ride with other people would be banned, as would displaying nearby drivers’ availability on the [...]
City Moves for 10 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 9, 2015 DELOITTE Business advisory firm Deloitte has appointed Andy Lees as a partner in its financial services team. He joins from Capgemini, the French management consulting corporation, where he was UK chief executive of its financial services business. Prior to this, Andy worked for Atos Consulting as a managing partner, after spending many years at KPMG [...]
US indices slide for third day in a row – New York Report December 9, 2015 Concerns over tanking oil prices and a rout in commodities yesterday pulled US markets down sharply for the third consecutive day. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 75.7 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 17,492.3, the S&P 500 lost 15.97 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 2,047.62 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 75.38 points, or [...]
Commodity prices stabilise following two day rout December 9, 2015 The price of hard commodities plateaued yesterday, following a two day retreat that spooked investors and caused huge sell offs of oil and mining stocks. The oil price also managed to stabilise, hovering just above the $40 mark for most of the day, despite dipping below the line briefly for the second day. Oil did [...]
Lots of cash, cheap debt and board confidence meant 2015 was a record-smashing year for M&A with $3.9 trillion of deals, including AB InBev’s takeover of SABMiller and the Pfizer Allergan merger December 9, 2015 It has been a record smashing year for mergers and acquisitions: 2015 has seen the highest ever deal values in the US and in Asia, the first time there has been more than $1 trillion of deals in three consecutive quarters, and broken the global M&A record. So far this year, $3.9 trillion (£2.57 trillion) [...]