Weidmann says BoJ policy risks a currency war January 21, 2013 THE PRESSURE Japanese leader Shinzo Abe is putting on the Bank of Japan (BoJ) threatens central bank independence and could risk a currency war, Bundesbank boss Jens Weidmann said yesterday. Japanese Prime Minister Abe has put heavy pressure on the BoJ to drastically increase its monetary interventions in order to boost inflation to its two per [...]
Ocado chair Michael Grade poised to retire January 21, 2013 OCADO chairman Michael Grade is set to announce his retirement as chairman of the online retailer as early as today. Lord Grade, formerly executive chairman of ITV, has been chairman of Ocado for seven years, overseeing the company’s £800m float three years ago. He is tipped to stand down at Ocado’s annual general meeting in [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 21, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Office-flat conversion rules to ease Developers will be able to convert office buildings into blocks of flats without asking councils for permission under radical changes to the English planning system designed to speed up the delivery of new homes. The plan’s aim is to increase the country’s housing supply at a time when [...]
UK businesses hit by jump in VAT and job tax January 21, 2013 BRITISH businesses are seeing their tax bills stay high despite George Osborne’s pledge to cut corporation tax, as the chancellor has simply increased other charges on the firms, according to a PwC study out today. That means the government is not increasing the UK’s appeal as a competitive place to do business as much as [...]
Ex-Barclays staff lose right to anonymity in Libor court case January 21, 2013 UP TO 106 current and former Barclays staff named in emails relating to Libor fiddling lost their right to anonymity in a legal case yesterday, as a judge ruled in favour of a group of media organisations who wanted them unmasked. The staff, a minority of whom are thought to have been found to have [...]
Republicans table deal on US debt limit January 21, 2013 REPUBLICANS in the US House of Representatives yesterday tabled a bill that would suspend the debt ceiling until 19 May. Instead of raising the debt limit it would allow spending of any amount to be funded by selling extra debt – but the cap on total borrowing would kick back in during May. The bill [...]
Crest Nicholson plots return to London market January 21, 2013 UK HOUSEBUILDER Crest Nicholson is to return to the stock market nearly six years after it was taken private at the height of the housing market crash. The 50 year-old company, which builds homes mainly in the south of England, said it plans to raise £50m from the listing of new shares to pay down [...]
Timeline: A journey back to the markets January 21, 2013 1963 Crest Homes founded by Bryan Skinner 1968 The housebuilder floats on the London Stock Exchange 1972 Crest buys Camper & Nicholsons, the leading yacht maker, and changes name to Crest NicholsoN 1983 Skinner retires and the company starts to sell-off its non-housing businesses 2005 Stephen Stone appointed chief executive of the company 2007 Crest [...]
HMV to honour gift vouchers as Hilco deal nears January 21, 2013 CRISIS-HIT music retailer HMV has performed a U-turn on its initial decision to refuse gift vouchers, administrators confirmed yesterday. Deloitte, the business advisory firm which took control of retailer last week, said HMV vouchers can now be redeemed in stores from today. It also said funds raised by HMV from the sale of charity releases, [...]
David Cameron to give delayed speech on EU links tomorrow January 21, 2013 DAVID Cameron will finally deliver his speech on Britain’s future relationship with the EU tomorrow morning, Downing Street confirmed yesterday. The speech was originally due to be delivered in Amsterdam last Friday but was delayed due to the Algerian hostage crisis. Although the Prime Minister’s aides wanted the announcement to take place on the continent for symbolic reasons, [...]