First July deficit since 2010 as spending creeps higher August 21, 2013 THE UK posted an unexpected deficit in July, the first for the month since 2010, highlighting the sluggish progress in reductions to spending. Records of the country’s recent public finances, released yesterday, show a relatively small deficit of £62m for last month. In the same month in 2012, the treasury ran a budget surplus of [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 22 August 2013 August 21, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Interns keep working at BofA Bank of America Merrill Lynch gave interns the option to end placements early after a 21-year-old undergraduate died. But they have decided to keep working. The decision by Moritz Erhardt’s peers to stay on highlights the determination of many young people to win a passport into that world. [...]
UK opportunity opens as rupee drop continues August 21, 2013 WITH the rupee spending most of yesterday at a record low of 100 to the pound, UK firms may benefit from the pound’s rising value against the Indian currency. The Reserve Bank of India began to intervene yesterday, saying it would spend 80bn rupees (£795m) on government bonds. Though many investors are moving away from [...]
Syria gassings kill hundreds August 21, 2013 SYRIA’S opposition last night accused government forces of gassing hundreds of people by firing rockets that released deadly fumes over rebel-held Damascus suburbs. With the dead estimated between 500 and 1,300, what would be the worst chemical weapons attack since the 1980s prompted an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. “I hope this will [...]
Merkel pledges no new haircut August 21, 2013 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday lashed out at the idea that Greece could be granted another haircut on its debts, while playing down the prospect of a third bailout for the indebted Mediterranean state. Merkel was speaking in Germany on the day that the European Central Bank (ECB) visited Athens to check up on Greece’s [...]
Briton arrested in China amid bribery probe August 21, 2013 CHINA’S investigation into corruption in the pharmaceuticals sector has heated up, with the arrest of a British consultant with links to the industry. Peter Humphrey and his wife Yu Yingzeng, who co-founded their ChinaWhys company in 2003, were detained in Shanghai on 10 July as authorities probed bribery allegations against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The British Embassy [...]
Allen becomes ISS chairman in advance of potential float August 21, 2013 FORMER ITV boss Sir Charles Allen was yesterday appointed as chairman of Danish outsourcing giant ISS, ahead of a potential float. City A.M. understands that Allen, who was already a director at the cleaning and catering firm, has been promoted to the top job as the firm’s private equity owners consider their exit strategy. Allen’s case was aided by [...]
Former Grant Thornton man pleads guilty August 21, 2013 A FORMER partner at Grant Thornton pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing nearly $4m (£2.56m) in client payments to the global accounting firm. Craig Haber, who prosecutors said diverted money to his own bank accounts between 2004 and 2012, pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud in federal court in New York. “I knew my [...]
Lloyds sells off last overseas insurance units August 21, 2013 LLOYDS yesterday sold its German insurance unit, the final step in cutting back its overseas presence in the industry, and key to running down £300bn of non-core operations globally. The landmark €300m (£256m) sale of Heidelberger Leben to a joint venture firm owned by Hanover Re and Cinven Partners brings to an end the British [...]
Bottom Line: Privatise this bank and let it flourish August 21, 2013 LLOYDS suddenly looks like Britain’s least-troubled bank, with soaring shares, a return to profit and almost all of its business focused on core UK markets. Its position is in stark contrast to much of the rest of the sector. RBS is getting a new boss to push the government’s favoured strategy of cutting back investment [...]