What the other papers say this morning – 29 July 2013 July 28, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Treasury pledges £2m for SFO probe The UK Treasury is expected to pledge special “blockbuster” funding to the Serious Fraud Office to back its investigation into Barclays’ emergency fundraising five years ago, in a sign of the agency’s escalating probe into the bank. The cash-strapped SFO, which launched a criminal investigation into the [...]
London housing begins to price out businesses July 28, 2013 BUSINESSES warned the government today that rising property prices could undermine investment in the capital, as firms struggle to keep up. According to the statement by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and KPMG, the shortage of housing has risen from companies’ third most pressing concern to their second since December, overtaking transport. The number [...]
China says 18 more people held over bribery claims against GSK July 28, 2013 CHINESE authorities have detained at least 18 people as part of an investigation into pharma group GlaxoSmithKline, according to state media. China’s state radio said police had “recently held, in accordance with the law, 18 GlaxoSmithKline (China) employees and some medical personnel”. A spokesperson for Glaxo declined to comment yesterday. Chief executive Andrew Witty said [...]
Bottom Line: Ad giants at watchdogs’ mercy July 28, 2013 RIVAL boss of ad firm Havas David Jones took to Twitter when he heard rumours of the Omnicom-Publicis deal, scoffing “oh wow just saw a flying pig”. It turns out it was no pig, it was a well-camouflaged POG: Publicis Omnicom Group, six months in the planning yet still a bolt from the blue. [...]
MPs call for full breakdown of all energy bills July 28, 2013 ENERGY suppliers should be forced to tell customers exactly how much climate change policies are adding to their fuel bill, according to a report released today by MPs. The energy and climate change select committee says industry regulator Ofgem should restore consumer confidence in the market by requiring suppliers to state how various components have [...]
Siemens boss set to be sacked in aftermath of profit warning July 28, 2013 GERMAN engineering giant Siemens is expected to sack chief executive Peter Loescher on Wednesday, after the company issued another profit warning. The company’s board said it would “decide on the early departure of the president and CEO” when it meets later this week, before appointing “a member of the managing board” as replacement. Despite this, [...]
Immigration stats criticised July 28, 2013 OFFICIAL immigration statistics are “little better than a best guess”, according to a report released yesterday by MPs. The public accounts select committee says figures produced by the Office of National Statistics and Home Office rely mainly on random interviews with 5,000 migrants per year at UK airports and ports. The committee says this makes [...]
Obama getting ready to reveal next Fed boss July 28, 2013 PRESIDENT Obama is examining the field of candidates to take over from outgoing Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, he said over the weekend, and will announce the next central bank boss in the coming months. A host of top academics and policymakers are in the running for the job, from without the Fed and outside [...]
Mo Farah calls for Barclays to change mind on payment firms July 28, 2013 BARCLAYS yesterday rejected calls from Olympic champion Mo Farah to keep working with up to 250 payments firms, including four who send payments to Somalia. A crackdown on banks who do not take proper precautions against money launderers means lenders are reviewing who they work with. “Cutting this lifeline would be a disaster for millions,” [...]
Banks’ PPI bill set to increase July 28, 2013 BARCLAYS is expected to set aside more money tomorrow to pay compensation to customers who were missold payment protection insurance and interest rate swaps. The bank will set aside at least another £150m to repay small firms who were missold swaps, taking the total compensation bill for those products to more than £1bn, according to [...]